He Who Would Be King
by Gripheenix
Summary: What happened after Kingdom Hearts II? New Keyblades. New characters. New enemies. Final Fantasy X... One journey for the good of all mankind. Cheesy, I know... This is rated M for my tendency to get carried away. I would like reviews, so let's have them
1. Prolougue

Author's note: Also, known as the disclaimer, this is where I say that I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts, or SquareEn

Author's note: Also, known as the disclaimer, this is where I say that I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts, or SquareEnix, or any of the like. I would also like to put here, the inspiration for this story. There is a moment in Kingdom Hearts II, after the fight with a thousand Heartless, where Sora encounters Saix. During that encounter, Saix mentions something to the effect of "The Heartless side with whoever is the strongest." That's about it. That one line conjured up a vast majority of this.

--

Green eyes stared straight ahead, cutting through the air with intense hatred for what they saw. Shorter black hair fell just above them, visibly dripping with sweat. The face that went with both was nearly clean shaven, save for a small strip on the chin. There were a few scars here and there, but they were small. Below the face was a bare chest, a strange design slightly marring the skin. The faint insignia appeared to be a faded heart, colored black, and with an elongated point, off of which two barbs stemmed. In the middle of the heart was a red 'X'. It seemed as if the design had either been there for a long time, and was now fading, or was starting to appear. The truth was closer to the later.

Two hands, one of them wrapped in black cloth, pulled a black button up shirt over the bare chest, slipping the ceramic buttons into their respective holes. Below the shirt was a pair of loose fitting, black jeans that sat comfortably on the hips, and slightly bunched up above white shoes. A silver chain hangs from the front, right belt loop and connected to a wallet in the back pocket after dipping down between the knee and the ankle.

Those green eyes shut tightly, a single tear rolling down the cheek as a bare fist slammed into the face that held them. Glass shattered, and the person within it now fell to the ground in fragments. The fist retracted, shard of glass embedded into it in various places. In other spots, gashes had been torn, letting crimson leak through, only to have gravity pluck it from the knuckles and collide it with the floor next to a foot encased in reflective glass.

I didn't care. Let it bleed. Maybe it'd do me some good. I turned around, my back facing a now broken mirror as I looked out of the small window in the wall. The moon was just beyond it. Yet, which moon was it? What world was this? All I knew for sure was the attic I now called home, and the empty shop it sat on top of. I suppose I knew my past, as well. That didn't mean much though. My past was only a mistake, and one of astronomical proportions. I had doomed us all. And now, I was the enemy. Some days, I wondered why I didn't just let Riku and Kairi finish me off.

I walked over and sat on my bed, watching my pulse crash down on the wooden floor boards. He had told me once, that they followed whoever was the strongest. Well, that's what he'd been told anyway, and what he'd pass on to me. If that was the case, I'd rather not be that person anymore. I held out the hand encased in black fabric, a bright flash emanating forward from it. The Keyblade known as Gaia's Torment shot forth from it. I stared at it, trying to pull the answers from it. They never came.

I got up, made my way down the steps, and into the small store below my room. I made my way out from behind the counter where the collapsible staircase ended, and toward the door. Something in my stomach turned as I pushed through the metal frame that had lost its glass long ago. I stood before a sea of black and white. Billions of Heartless and Nobodies had gathered here, waiting for my command.

My name is Hugo Ferras. I am from the world that I once called Earth. This is my story.


	2. Something All Too Familiar

This all began with falling, or rather sinking

This all began with falling, or rather sinking. Sinking into what seemed to be an endless abyss. It wasn't water. That much I did know, because I could breath. It was a strange sensation, best described as near Nirvana. I'd heard once before, in a Psychology class, that most near death experiences seemed like absolute bliss. Most of what followed that bit, I'd tuned out for. It wasn't relevant. The class was only to fill a credit, and it seemed easy. That didn't matter during the fall. It'd been such a long trip that I'd forgotten which direction I was traveling. Perhaps I was no longer falling, but flying.

I remember quite distinctly that the though about flying was proven wrong by a sudden pillar, literally. A pillar topped with what looked like tinted glass had came from the nothing ness so fast, I didn't have time to react. Eyes closed, bracing for impact, I felt myself turn in the air, my feet touching down gently on something solid. I opened my green eyes again, left in naught but awe at what lay at my feet. The portrait of a young man, with brown, spiked hair sitting over brilliant blue eyes, spread along a line of longitude, his feet ending near my own. He sat halfway on what looked like an oversized key, one hand stretching outward while the other rested on a raised knee, clothed in black and yellow. The object he rested on had a golden, rectangular loop near the top, which is what held him up. In the middle of the loop a silver rod divided it in two, continuing through the gold and ending in parallel with the man's foot. At the end of the rod, a square jutted out, what resembled a crown's shape cut into it.

On the other half of this key, at the man in black's back, was another figure, sitting in a perfectly mirrored position. This second figure was dressed in white, with golden hair, the front of it spiked upward, away from those same brilliantly blue eyes. This young man's face, however, held a melancholy expression, where as the first seemed more tranquil. His eyes were also shifted slightly, looking over his shoulder, rather than looking straight ahead.

Just out of reach from the first man's held out hand was the fingers of a third figure, his hand outstretched as well, wrapped in white cloth. This third man wore a yellow vest over blue clothing, and silver hair fell to his shoulders, covering the eyes. Instead of resting on something, he seemed to be either falling into or emerging from a dark pool. I didn't like the black waters. They seemed far too ominous for this rather serene image. A sense of violence almost seemed to emanate from this pool. I tried not to focus on it.

Just above the hands that almost touched were four circles arranged in a diamond pattern, a different face held within each. One, to the right, had a rather odd looking dog with a leather hat over ears that hung low. He was covered in dark fur and two teeth jutted from his mouth. Another circle, to the left of the first, captured what seemed to be a white duck, dressed in blue. In a third circle, which sat at the top of the formation, was a character with two very large, round ears. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought it to be a mouse. The fourth circle, sitting at the bottom, just above the hands, seemed slightly larger, and held the most of my attention. Within this circle was a young girl in a pink dress. Her long brown hair framed her delicate face, which held another pair of amazing, blue eyes.

I turned around to look for a path off the platform. There wasn't one. Instead, etched into the glass, was a group of figures in black cloaks with hoods. Some of the hoods were pulled back, but most were left up, covering the faces that resided within them. Of the few faces I could see, there was a man with longer, red hair, strange markings just below his closed eyes. I felt a rather strong sorrow coming from him. There was also a man with pastel blue hair, two locks resting over his shoulders. It seemed he had taken a blow or two to the face, as there was an 'X' shaped scar in the middle of his face.

A crash tore my attention away, focusing it behind myself, where there was a door. Judging by the dust in the air, it had fallen. This glass must have been quite sturdy, to take a blow like that and not even crack. I walked toward the door, hoping it would lead somewhere away from this masterpiece of sand, heat, and color. The handle was rather cold in my hand as I tried turning it. It turned, but seemed broken, as that was all it did, and without a point at which it would stop doing so. I could've twisted for the rest of my life, and I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere.

Defeated, I let go, propping my back against the mysterious door. The thought occurred to me that perhaps I could jump off of the pillar, landing somewhere else, as I had landed here. What other choice did I have? I walked toward the edge, past the figured in black robes. There wasn't much to be seen. The only thing that was, was darkness. "Well," I mumbled to myself, "I don't have a whole hell of a lot to lose."

I put a foot over the edge, and began transferring my weight onto it, which would have caused me to fall. It's an odd feeling, attempting to fall intentionally. Not knowing what was at the bottom made it feel even stranger. However, I would never know, as a hand wrapped around my arm, preventing my descent. I turned to see myself, holding me back. Only it wasn't me. This other version of me was wearing white clothing, rather than black. His should-have-been black hair was also white. Even the cloth around his left hand was white. No words were exchanged, but the white me disappeared into the air. I knew full well what would have been said, though, as it came from my own mouth. "Seems like an awfully shameful way to die."

In the second after he disappeared, I noticed the door had been moved. It was a distance away from its original position. Where it had been, was a pedestal, a shimmering object resting upon it. It called to me, beckoning for me to take it. Unable to resist, I closed in for a closer look. It was a sword. The weapon had a blade about the size of my arm, and a handle about a fifth the size. I wrapped my hand around the cloth encased handle, removing the sword from the pedestal. Now it was the door calling my name. I followed the command, inching my way closer, the sword in hand.

The door was larger than I had remembered, and much, much taller. I could see intricate designs etched into the ivory, now that I was this close. The design seemed to resemble some sort of language, based on its horizontal flow and often breaks between lines. A voice whispered in my ear. It seemed almost to come from the door itself. "Legacy," it said, chilling me slightly, "The path is open."

I pushed through the door, and a bright flash blinded me. When it subsided, another pillar stretched out before me. This one also had an elaborate stained glass pattern. In the middle of the circular glass were two silhouettes, one black one white. They stood side by side, arms held out from their sides, no definition to them at all apart from the outline and one solid color. The black figure had lines of black sprouting from its arms, reaching down past the feet in wavy patterns. The white one, on the other hand, had what appeared to be a set of white wings coming from its back. I didn't have time to read into it further, as the haunting voice came back. "Prove yourself, Legacy."

"Legacy?" I queried, looking around, "What do you mean by that? What is this Legacy?" The voice had referred to it twice now, and I hadn't thought about it until now. My thinking was interrupted by a loud noise, almost resembling a roar. When I refocused my gaze to the front, I noticed a beast. It had grey, leathery skin, and one massive eye in the middle of its head. Two long horns sprouted from its forehead, and two tusks emerged from the sides of a wide mouth to match. The beast's body was quite thin, most of the ribcage visible, as well as the spine, and its front legs bent backward as it lowered its head, readying to charge. Its longer hind legs bent backward as well, but at a much more extreme angle, reminding me of frog's legs. Behind this intimidating creature was a thin tail about four times its body length, a sharp blade glimmering from the end of it as the appendage flicked about.

"Oh. Shit," was all I could manage as the beast lunged forward, aiming a horn at my chest. I jumped to the left in enough time to escape most of the damage, but collided with a moving leg, flying a few feet before sliding across the glass. The wind had been knocked out of me, leaving me unable to stand as quickly as I should have. A massive, three toed foot came crashing down on me. My only defense was holding my hand out in a futile attempt to cushion the blow for the rest of my body. A flash pulsed outward from my palm, throwing the foot off course, slamming the ground less than an inch from me. I quickly rolled out from under the beast, ending on a knee, my hand behind my back, still glowing. Something solid brushed against my fingers, forcing a reaction to close them around it. A smirk slid across my face as I pulled my hand out to notice the sword resting in it. I felt it time to fight back.

I lunged at the beast, running below as I held the blade upward, at its gut. Stopping on the opposite side of the creature from where I started, I heard a reassuring sound. It was the sound of some sort of liquid spilling onto glass. The flow wasn't too fast, but it was steady. I heard another deafening roar, followed by the rumbles of a large body charging. Sending myself airborne, I flipped backward to look, upside down, at my foe before correcting myself and landing on its head. Immediately after my feet touched down, I jammed the sword into the beast's skull, twisting before pulling it out. A small eruption of bright red liquid was a good sign. My loss of balance, however, was a bad one.

The creature's head crashed into ground, tearing away my solid ground, and flinging me forward. I could feel my body turning in the air, knowing that it wasn't going to feel good when the ground caught me. It didn't. My back hit first, arching as I bounced, landing a second time on my tailbone. I'd feel that for a few days. The sound of something colliding with the glass came from somewhere past my feet. Slowly, I sat up, wincing as almost everything popped and cracked. The beast lay before me, resting on its side. As its ribs rose and fell, I could tell that it was a chore for the thing to breath. Standing slowly, I let the tip of my sword rest on the ground. It dragged along as I closed in on the dying beast. This wasn't pain holding me back. I had been overcome by the sudden realization of what I'd done. This beast had no more right to die than I did. Of course, it attacked first, and without reason, but it still had life. A heart still beat within its chest. I could see the desperate will to live in its eye as I had finally reached the fallen creature, resting a hand on its head. It knew that death was coming, even if I had simply walked away without inflicting any more damage. Nothing deserved such a drawn out death.

"Forgive me," I whispered, jamming the sword through the eye. The beast's muscles went into violent spasms as I backed away, pulling my blade out. Within seconds, though, all motion had stopped, blood spreading along cracks that the spasms had made in the glass. I dropped the blood covered sword, a loud clang echoing into the nothingness around the glass pillar. "Did I prove myself?" My yelling was almost hysterical. "What now!? Does my ending a life prove something?"

"Yes," the voice whispered, "But just barely."

"Why me?"

"You are the Legacy."

"I don't even know what that fucking means!"

"You will learn in time."

"I've had enough of these games. Either you take me back to my life, or I'm taking myself back."

"Suit yourself," it said, a sense of humor almost visible in the air around me. Another door fell from the sky and landed opposite the platform from the one I had entered from. I walked toward it, furious, and almost to the point of tears. Fear had taken control. It wasn't the fact that I had killed. It was the fact that, up until I stared into a desperate eye, I thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing. I put a hand on the door, pushing it open to another blinding flash.

Falling. I was falling again. This time, there was no confusion. I was definitely going down. There was no sense of fluid, just the pure sensation of falling. My eyes closed as I let Nirvana fold me in. Naught but the essential bliss of plummeting could be so inviting. I hit something soft, bouncing slightly as I snapped my arms outward to catch myself. My hands grabbed hold of soft fabric as my eyes opened suddenly. "What the fuck?" I mumbled, staring at the wooden ceiling of my bedroom. Sitting up, I saw an empty pizza box. The smell was still pretty fresh. "That is the last time I order out before going to bed.


	3. Fragmented Alpha

Author's note: Firstly, I'd like to restate my disclaimer

_Author's note: Firstly, I'd like to restate my disclaimer. I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts, SquareEnix, or Disney. I do, however, own the character of Hugo, as well as the names of the Keyblades. And before you ask, no, Hugo is not me. He is a paraphrased version of my ideals and thoughts, but he is not meant to be me. Also, I would like to state a technical issue. I'm not sure if anyone else sees it, but the first few words of the chapter seem to be repeated above the chapter itself. This is not my doing, and I'm hoping I can find a way around that. End note._

-

I dried my hair and threw the damp towel in the hamper. Standing naked, I looked at the floor around myself. One could tell that I hadn't done laundry in a long while. Among the clothes strewn across the floor, I picked out the freshest shirt and pair of pants. I slid the black jeans over a new pair of boxers. With the cost of the Laundromat, I found it much cheaper to buy undergarments in bulk and toss when done. They weren't the most comfortable, but they were better than going commando. I wrapped a black button up around my torso and arms, and buttoned it up.

My left wrist was still in a bit of pain since its sprain a few days ago, when I slipped on a patch of ice and landed on it. I had a remedy for that though. It was a piece of black cloth that I'd torn from an old shirt and tied around the wounded area every day. For the most part, if I tied it right, it worked well. Finishing that process, I tucked the excess cloth under itself to keep it in place. My wallet sat on the floor next to my bed, connected to a rather lengthy chain. I picked it up and slid it in my back pocket, hooking the chain to my front belt loop as I left my room, making for the kitchen of my small, single bedroom apartment.

The fridge was barren, save for a carton of eggs that had been there when I moved in. I didn't want to touch them, so they stayed there. It seemed they were past the point of smelling bad, though, which was good. Moving to the cupboards, I was again let down. Nothing but a jar of peanut butter sat in there. I was starting to guess why I ordered pizza the night before. Closing the cupboard, I snagged my keys from the counter below them and headed for the front door. It was apparently time for grocery shopping.

-

The store was just down the street a few blocks, so I decided to walk. I wouldn't be buying so much that I wouldn't be able to carry it all home either. It was a cold day, almost making me wish I'd remembered my jacket. The snow was melting, though, so it couldn't have been that bad. Who knew? In a few days, there would be a day over sixty. Such was the month of March in the Midwest.

I could feel people staring at me from across the street, accusing me of being demented for walking in this weather without a jacket. I was starting to believe them. It didn't matter though. Very little did anymore. About all I was concerned with was getting through each day in one piece. Life wasn't hectic. In fact, it was quite the other way around. That was the chaos of it all. Sheer nothingness was more taxing than a day filled with street fights, going bankrupt; all on top of finding out you've been drafted, and are getting shipped out in a week. Nothing was the ultimate torture.

I watched a young couple pass by me on the sidewalk. Both of them were younger than me by a few years. Venturing a guess, I'd say they were about sixteen or seventeen. As they kept walking, I stopped to let out a visible sigh. I had always felt that there was something missing in my life. There were times when I thought it was what they had: Love. However, I'd tried to fill that space with the afore mentioned notion many times. It never seemed to work. That's not saying have a girl in my life wasn't pleasant. After so many trials, though, I was convinced that it wasn't what my life was missing.

I continued walking, the store now in view, and my mind somewhere in the distance. After a bit of wandering, it found itself back at the dream I'd had. Most of me knew it was only a dream, but there was a part of me that still felt a great deal of sorrow for the beast I'd been pitted against. That same part also dared to make my body shudder at the beast I had become myself. There was no reason I should have enjoyed killing. I'd never done anything of the sort before. I didn't consider myself a violent person. Yet, there was no mistaking that I took some sort of sickening pleasure in drawing blood. My hand autonomously grasped the metal handle of the door and let my body walk into the warmth of the store.

-

"Seventy bucks?" I asked the cashier, "All I've got here is a gallon of milk, ten TV dinners, a loaf of bread, and some jelly. Could I ask you to recheck your list?" She wouldn't have a chance.

The lights flickered, soon followed by total power failure. The ground started shaking. It was slow at first, but the magnitude of the tremors grew exponentially. It wasn't long before most weren't able to stand. I was among that majority, crashing into the checkout counter forcefully. The wind left my lungs, leaving me to gasp for breath as I slid down the side of the wooden counter, hitting the tiled floor, which was still shaking.

I picked myself up, brushing off a little dust as the quakes died down. "Well," I groaned, "We don't get too many of those around here. You alright miss?" She didn't respond. "Miss?" Still no response. I looked over the counter, and found a crumpled body, its head next to an open cash register.

"Shit," I said, jumping the wooden divider and picking up the young woman. She was dressed in the blue uniform of the store, and was fairly pail. At the edge of her light brown hair, there was a hole in her forehead, and it was bleeding badly. I looked around the ruins of the store, setting her down on the counter gently. "Is there a doctor here?"

For the first time, the sheer destruction of the quake had settled in, as the place was completely void of people. If they were there, they weren't able to stand up. The door was blocked off by shelves and brick from the walls around it. The display window beside it, though, was shattered, and open. I dashed for it, stepping over shards of glass and back to the street. Buildings were crumbled, and there were vehicles littering the pavement. "Is anyone there at all?" I shouted, but with no reply.

My gaze shifted to the sky as the wind picked up. There was a gigantic, swirling, black cloud just above me. I didn't know what to think. It clearly wasn't a tornado, as it was far too large. It couldn't have been a hurricane. There was no rain, only wind. There was something falling from the eye of the vortex, or rather, many things, at an alarming rate. I began to fear that this wasn't a storm at all.

I ran back into the store, and to the cashier's side, placing a hand on her chest and an ear by her mouth. She was still breathing, barely. "Don't worry," I said, gently picking her up from the wooden counter, "I'll get us out of here." I carried her through the display window, holding her in a cradled position. Looking around, at the crashed vehicles, I determined that at least one of them had to be drivable.

After a bit of searching, I found a vacated van that had a cracked windshield, and a smashed right side. It should have still been able to move though. I slid the driver side back door open, laying the young woman down on the elongated back seat. Crawling in beside her, I tore off the bottom of her shirt, tying it around her head tightly, in hopes of stopping the blood flow. After I'd done that, I shut the door and climbed in the driver seat, realizing for the first time that I'd forgotten about the necessary keys. I was about to beat myself up over it when I found them already in the ignition. Not taking the time to appreciate my excellent fortune, I started the van up and threw the transmission into drive, making haste toward the hospital.

I was very curious as to what had happened to everyone. As far as I was concerned, though, this girl and I were the only survivors. I wasn't about to let either of us die. I just hoped that the hospital still had people in it.

-

I didn't get to find out if the hospital was empty or not, as I couldn't even get to it. Being one of the taller buildings in town, it seemed to have been hit harder by the quakes than the rest. Large chunks of the upper levels littered the streets around the place, reaching fairly high up, preventing me from scaling them. I looked over my shoulder, into the back seat, at the girl from the store. Her chest was still rising and falling, but it was slow. If I didn't do something soon, she'd be lost.

Suddenly, the van tipped over, sending me into the passenger seat, and the girl through the busted window of the mangled side of the vehicle. Through the corner of my eye, I saw the horror unfold in slow motion. As she was ejected, her body got hung up by the waist, slamming her head and torso into the damaged door with a sickening thud. As the van continued to fall sideways, I saw my hand reaching for her, just out of range. Not that it would have mattered, as events were unfolding much faster than I perceived them.

When the van's side finally hit the ground, I could almost hear bones being crushed beneath it, accompanied by the sound of something bursting open. My head had hit the passenger door pretty hard, and I could feel myself blacking out. In my last seconds of consciousness, I saw the pavement where the girl's body had been flood with blood. I knew I'd failed. I thought I could find my solace in saving a life, but I failed. I was starting to think that I was destined to lead a trail of destruction. If only I knew then, just how fucking right I'd been in that assumption.

-

Odd sounds brought me back. I heard three voices, shouting what seemed like commands to one another. There was also the sound of metal crashing against metal, along with some sort of grunting. I climbed from toward the driver's window, which had shattered during the roll. Grabbing hold of the outside of the door, I pulled myself through the opening, baffled by what I saw. On the street, a few meters in front of me, was a brawl.

Three of the figures were very familiar. There was a man with long, silver hair, dressed in yellow and blue. In his hand was an odd looking weapon. His fingers wrapped around a black handle, which was in the middle of a large, black ring, which reminded me of feathers. From the loop, a blade shot out, almost a full meter in length, and also colored black. Near the end of the blade, what resembled a black wing spread backward, like a barb, toward the man himself.

A girl with long brown hair, and wearing a pink dress was next to him. Her weapon was very similar, except it was a deep crimson, and a bit shorter. Its loop was comprised of perfectly round orbs, and didn't close around the handle. The blade was more of a rod than a blade, and the barb was in the shape of a crown.

Standing opposite them was a man with short blonde hair, a single piercing in his ear. He was dressed in black, a cape draped over his shoulders with an odd insignia on it. It was a heart, black, but outlined in red. The point of the heart stretched downward, and had two barbs stemming from it. In the middle of this symbol, there was a red 'X'.

On the other side of the caped man from the other two was a young man with spiky brown hair, and dressed in red. He had two of the odd weapons. The one in his right hand was exactly the same as the one that the man in yellow and blue held, but white. In the left, he held something very familiar. It was golden and silver.

"That key," I thought I whispered, "I know that key." Suddenly, I knew three of these characters. They were on that glass platform in my dream. That key was there too. The fourth man, in between them, I did not know, but he seemed to know me, as he focused his attention on me.

"Oh," he said to me, walking closer, but keeping an eye on the other three, "You know that key? Then you must be him. Tell me; what is your name, Legacy?"

There was that term again. What the hell did it mean? "I don't know what you're talking about," I responded, "And don't call me Legacy."

"Tell me your name, and I'll call you that instead." He was a few arm lengths away, holding out his hand. His advance was cut short by one of the strange weapons, the white one. The man grunted and shot a glance to the young man in red who held the weapon in front of him, then returned his gaze to me. "We will meet again, Legacy," he said, then vanished into a sea of black.

The man in red flashed brightly, after which his clothes were black and yellow, only the white weapon in hand. He turned around and stepped closer to me, but I had already pulled myself out of the van and was in the process of running away. My escape didn't prove too successful, as all three caught up to me with ease.

"What do you want?" I shouted, falling to my knees, nearing the point of tears, "I'm not this 'Legacy' person you're looking for. I'm only human. I just wanted to get some food, but then there was this earthquake, and this black vortex, and everyone vanished, and the van, and it crashed, and…" My voice trailed off as I remembered the cashier girl, crushed under the weight of the rolled van. "I couldn't save her. Why? Why is this happening to me!?" I slammed a fist into the pavement hard enough to tear gashes open, and hurt myself to the point of regret. A hand rested on my shoulder, and I almost felt a calm emanating from it. The man with brown hair pulled me off the ground and turned me to look at him.

"Maybe we should start with introductions," he started, "My name is Sora. This guy here is Riku. And she's Kairi." He motioned to each respectively as he gave their names, and then looked back to me with a calm smile. "We expect that you have your fair share of questions. However, they'll have to wait. We need you to come with us."

I nodded, seeing no other possible alternative. With a blinding flash, I watched my home, Earth, fade away as I felt myself shot upward. This time, I wasn't able to hold back the tears.


	4. A Thousand Ways to Say Hello

-

-

I held my hand out, staring at the two small, metallic objects that rested in it. One was a blue teardrop, encased in silver. The other was a jagged, black cross. Both dangled from long, silver chains. I didn't know what they were, or what they did. The only thing I did know was that they were important, and mine, apparently. I closed my hand around what had been called 'Keychains', and put them in my pocket, staring across the narrow corridor at a man named Leon. He gave me an untrusting glare, forcing my reaction of looking toward the cockpit, where Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat.

They hadn't even told me where we were going, or why all these people were going with them. All they told me was that the numbers were needed. Though, the long trip gave me a while to reflect.

-

After watching my world fall away, I stood with the three of them, in some sort of vehicle. As I wandered what I assumed was the cockpit, I noted the three chairs, in front of massive panels of lights, buttons, switches, and screens. None of it made sense at all. I looked out of the windshield, at some sort of odd metal, which made up the nose and, I could only assume, the rest of the vehicle.

This metal wasn't reflective, and looked more like smooth plastic. Placing my hands on one of the cockpit walls, I noticed it was made of the same material. It was soft, almost warm. If I had dared to, I might have been able to stretch the wall. I thought that might have been a bad idea, though.

Turning around, Sora offered me a proud grin. "She's a wonder, ain't she? Got a friend of ours to build it for us," he said.

"What exactly is 'this'?" I asked, staring at the narrow corridor behind him. Making my way toward it, I saw a couple seats built into the walls. At the end of the corridor was a large wall with a big handle on it, sitting at an angle away from the seats. It reminded me of a military dropship.

"This," Sora interrupted, turning my attention back to him as he held his hand out in a showcasing manner, "This is a Gummi ship. It's what we use to travel to different worlds."

"Different worlds?" I was clueless.

"Are you sure this guy's the one? He seems kinda under informed," said the man with long silver hair, Riku.

"Well," Sora sighed, grabbing hold of his chin, "He's got to be. The Heartless were after him." He took a seat in the middle chair, hitting a few buttons. "Either way, we should bring him to the King."

Riku and Kairi both nodded, taking their seats beside him. After a bit more button pressing and switch flipping, I was told to sit down from three different sources. I chose to obey, taking one of the seats in the corridor. There were so many questions I had, and I was so close to just yelling them out in hopes of receiving the answers. However, when I heard mention of a king, I figured that they could wait until I met him. My thoughts were interrupted when the vessel started moving, at a very alarming speed.

-

It was a huge castle, taller than any buildings I'd ever seen back home. The three of them led me through a strange courtyard, where the trees and shrubs were carved into shapes of odd looking characters.

"Goofy!" Sora yelled, tearing my focus from the environment to a door with a strange looking guard. This man, or dog, was dressed in green and yellow, with a leather hat on his head. I recognized him from one of the circles on the glass platform in my dream, which was starting to seem less and less like a dream. This dog, who'd been guarding the door, rushed at our group, colliding with Sora and wrapping both arms around him. Sora returned the gesture, a bright smile on his face. Riku and Kairi seemed happy to meet this 'Goofy' as well, but not to such a degree. I started growing impatient, but calmed down quickly, as the dog let us through the door.

We traveled up a short flight of stairs, and to a ridiculously long balcony, overlooking the courtyard. Sora and the others kept pushing forward, not bothering to wait for me to catch up, as I was slowed down by sheer awe. There was a certain captivating feature in the architecture of the castle, but it paled in comparison to the amazement of being somewhere other than Earth. All this time, I would never have guessed that there were other worlds. I knew of the other planets in the solar system, but that was different. This was something inhabited, not just a floating rock on the sky.

I ran down the balcony, catching up to the others as they stopped at massive doors. They rose at least a mile above us, the giant handles only half that distance away, but still unreachable. There apparently wasn't a way through. Sora cleared his throat, knocking on the door. The sound echoed for about half a minute, giving me a general idea of just how much space this place had. After a few minutes, a small door within the large ones opened up, a white duck dressed in blue standing where it used to be.

The duck squawked something that I didn't quite understand, and tackled Sora, who seemed rather overjoyed by the assault, and told us to go on in without him. Riku led the way, Kairi following close behind, and me behind her. It was a spacious room, to make an understatement, and white. It seemed like a mile long walk down the red carpet in the middle of the floor, before we reached the throne. I knelt down, thinking it the right thing to do. Kairi laughed quietly as Riku pretended to scold me for being so formal. Rising to my feet, I saw the King, a smile on his head, which was just about the size of the rest of his body. Attached to the head were two large, round ears.

"Riku, Kairi," he said, hopping from his seat, "It's great to see again."

"Yeah," Riku responded, his voice brimming with happiness, "It's been too long, your majesty. Where's Queen Minnie?"

"She's off with Daisy, in Twilight Town. I think they went shopping for Goofy's birthday next week." The King turned his attention to me. "Who's your friend?"

"This is the man you told us about, the one from Gaia."

"I see," his majesty responded, turning back to me, "Please, come with me. I expect that you have many questions." He started toward a door in the back corner of the room.

I had no choice but to follow, sure that he had the answers that I needed. "Your majesty," I said, keeping in stride with the mouse, "What's happening? Where am I? What happened to Earth? Why did everyone disappear? Who are these people who came for me? What…" The king cut me short, putting a hand up as we reached the door.

"Earth, as you call it, is actually a world named Gaia. It was a world meant to be cut off from the rest of them. Gaia was a crowning achievement, a safe haven against the Heartless and Nobodies. Unfortunately, that didn't last too long, as they found their way there anyway. Gaia had the most hearts of any world in existence, and they sought to take those hearts." The King smiled, opening the door, and leading me into a spiraling staircase.

As we traveled upward, I had even more questions than I did before. I had also noticed that the others had not followed us. "Heartless? Nobodies? Hearts? I have no idea what you're talking about."

The King tried explaining more as we traversed the stairwell. Apparently, the Heartless were the manifestation of hearts that had given into the darkness, and sought to spread their corruption to everyone else. Nobodies were the body and soul that had left behind, when Heartless tore the hearts from peoples' chests. The Nobodies were just as chaotic and destructive as the Heartless, trying to become whole again, seeking a replacement heart, not caring who they take it from.

He also explained the worlds to me. There were a vast amount of worlds, each with a different story, and a various arrangement of inhabitants. Apparently, a world could be anything from a giant planet, to a book, to a computer mainframe. So long as there were people living in a place, there would be a world. Unfortunately, there would also be Heartless, which also meant Nobodies.

We finally stopped at a room that was miniscule, in comparison to the rest of the castle. There was no back wall, just an opening to a balcony, which the King led me to. We looked out over the entire world, and my heart almost stopped. Stretched out before me was a massive ocean, a faint shoreline visible on the other side. It may have been the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and succeeded in making me forget my questions, if only for a moment.

I turned to the King, who was looking out over the same scenery. "Why did you bring me up here?"

"You've been through a great deal in a very short amount of time," he explained, "I thought this might help put you at ease. If I might ask, what's your name?"

"Hugo," I answered. He'd been right about being set as ease. From the second I caught the view, my thoughts seemed to stop crashing into one another, straightening themselves out, and allowing me to think clearly, for the first time in what may have been forever. "I still have my questions though," I said, staring out at the rest of the world.

"That's to be expected. So, I'll start where I left off. Gaia was a last resort world, created for the soul purpose of hiding hearts. For the longest time, I'd thought it only a myth. Then, one day, I came across some notes, written by a very wise man named Ansem, which proved Gaia's existence. The only problem then, was how to get there. There were never any pathways built to or from the world, and therefore, no way to get to it. That was, until the Heartless learned to travel through pathways of darkness." He paused, casting a tangible gaze upon me. "Tell me, Hugo. Were the people of your world evil?"

"No," I responded, "Not all of them, anyway. I guess most of the world had been corrupted. Most people only looked out for themselves, without a care of how they got what they wanted."

"I see," the King resumed, "Then it's quite possible that the Heartless were drawn there by the overwhelming darkness that Gaia's people held in their hearts. Most of the people who lived there are probably gone now, divided among the Heartless and Nobodies. Either way, I had ordered Sora, Riku, and Kairi to follow the Heartless vessels through the darkness, in hopes that they'd find Gaia, and ultimately, you."

"That's another question I have. Who are they? Who was that guy with the black cape? Why do people keep referring to me as this 'Legacy' person?"

"I don't know anything about any man with a black cape. It may have just been a powerful Heartless. As far as your three companions, they are friends, trust me. Six years ago, Sora stopped a very powerful Heartless from taking control of every heart in every world. Then, five years ago, he teamed up with Riku to defeat a powerful group of Nobodies known as Organization XIII.

Sora is the Legacy of Light, one of five chosen Keyblade wielders. The second chosen wielder is Riku, the Legacy of Darkness. Kairi is the third. She holds a deep connection with Sora, one so deep that their hearts are nearly one. Her close bond with him was why she was chosen."

After the King had been silent for a short while, I still wasn't satisfied. "You said there were five chosen wielders. That's only three. Also, you still haven't told me what I have to do with any of this."

He sighed before continuing. "I'm the fourth wielder," he said, looking up toward me, "And you are the fifth."

"What? I don't even know what a Keyblade is. How can I be one of the chosen wielders?"

"You are the third Legacy, Hugo. You belong to neither the Light, nor the Darkness. You are Gaia's Legacy. With the strengths of both Light and Dark, you have the potential to become the strongest soul in the universe. Unfortunately, that also makes you a rather large target. So, I'd like you to stay close to the others, and accompany them on their new mission."

"What's that?"

"I'll tell everyone at the same time," the King said, starting toward the stairs. He stopped briefly, digging through his pocket until he pulled out two objects that shimmered in the sunlight. Handing them do me, he offered a smile. "These Keychains are for you."

"What do they do?" I asked, following him to the stairwell.

"You'll see soon enough," he responded as we began our descent.

-

The King had given a rather significant mission. In short, he'd declared war on the Heartless and Nobodies. We were his army. I had personally thought it a suicide mission. Four people against what sounded like millions of vast battalions didn't seem like very good odds, especially when one of those four still had nearly no idea what was going on. I still had hundreds of questions that still needed answers, but Sora and the others decided to leave before I could ask them.

I was upset, and scared, very scared. Just yesterday, I had been sitting on my couch, watching reruns of old sitcoms. Now I was all but being forced into a war where there was about a one in a million chance for survival. Of course I was scared.

My fear was eased slightly, though, as Sora informed me that we were going to get help first. We were going to a place called Radiant Garden, where there was apparently a good chunk of capable fighters that would be willing to help us. I had desperate hopes that these people would have a massive army behind them, and was soon to be let down.

-

I stood in a small house, being overlooked by a group of about ten people, while my three companions had left to gather supplies. Three of the investigators, I wasn't so sure were human. They were quite small. Small enough to fit in my palm, I figured. They all had tiny wings on their back, allowing them to fly, or in the current case, hover less than an inch from my face. The one who seemed to be the leader, referred to as Yuna, had shoulder length brown hair, with a braid in the back that extended to her dangling feet as she seemed to inspect the ins and outs of my facial features. She was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt with a pink hood, and a blue skirt, longer on one side than the other.

The loudest of the three miniature folk was dressed in vibrant orange, including a long scarf, which accented her long, braided orange-blonde hair very nicely. Riku, as I heard the others call her, was poking around, seemingly searching for something I might have had.

The third one, apparently named Paine, had shorter, silvery brown hair; the bangs spiked up, but allowed to droop in front of her face. Dressed in tight, black clothing, she stared from a distance, barely saying a word.

In the corner, apparently more absorbed in something other than me, which was a relief, was a man with spiky blonde hair, staring at the ground as he leant against the was with crossed arms. His basic attire was a blue uniform, with a tight, sleeveless corduroy shirt, and baggy pants. On the left shoulder, pinned on by what looked like a silver wolf insignia, was a single, dark blue, loose fitting sleeve, accompanied by a similar looking cloth that hung in the same direction from his waist. Resting on the wall next to him was a massive sword, encased in white wrappings. I was told later, that his name was Cloud.

Wrapped around his right arm, and resting a head on his chest, was a woman with long brown hair. She wore a black, leather vest, and matching gloves. She also had a pair of matching shorts, which had a sort of tail behind them, which looked like she had a long coat tied around her waist. She had introduced herself, when I came in, as Tifa.

Another woman with long brown hair was offering me a very comforting smile. Her bangs framed around her face, and the back was tied into a braid with a red bow. This woman, called Aerith, wore a long, pink dress under a red and white jacket. Of all the people gathered in the cramped house, she seemed to be the happiest to meet me, perhaps even to only one who was at all.

Next to Aerith, was a woman with short black hair, with a black cloth tied into it and trailing behind her as she paced in a tight circle, seemingly deep in thought. She had a black vest over a black shirt, and a short pair of black and brown shorts. Her name, I memorized right away, as I was almost instantly captivated. That name was Yuffie.

To my right, sitting with his back to a large computer, was an older man with a cigarette in his mouth. His short, blonde hair was kept out of his eyes by a pair of goggles. His attire seemed rather plain, when compared to everyone else in the room. It was a bit of a breather, to be honest, to see someone who seemed vary comfortable in the bare essentials of a white shirt, and baggy, blue pants. Though, the brown waistband of the pants was a little on the thick side for my taste. Cid had also introduced himself when I arrived, shaking my hand even. He then proceeded to boast about the Gummi ship I had come here in. I pretended to listen, but eventually got lost.

Standing next to Cid was a very old, short man, with a long, white beard. He had a tall, blue hat, and a loose, matching robe. His name was Merlin, and this cramped building was actually his house. By the looks of things, the guy wasn't very tidy or organized. Books were strewn about the floor in piles, and, in all honesty, the house looked like it was about to crumble down.

When Yuna moved out of my face, I saw a very imposing man stepping forward. Trying not to let his see that I noticed the scar across his face, I quickly looked to the floor, noticing his black jeans. As my gaze autonomously rose, I realized that he had an unnecessary number of belts around his waist. Strapped to one of those belts, was the grip of a revolver, but it was no gun. This weapon seemed to be held like a gun, but had a long blade at the end of the barrel. I could only assume that it was called a gunblade. Continuing upward, I saw a white shirt inside a black jacket. Finally resting on the man's face, I offered one last glance away from the scar, to his shoulder length, brown hair.

"My name is Leon," he brought my attention back to his face, including the scar, "I'm not so sure why Sora trusts you. But, if he does, then you must be a halfway decent person." He patted me on the shoulder rather abrasively. "Just don't give me reason to think otherwise."

The others encouraged him to be nicer, but it was a lost cause. I could tell he didn't trust me, which was understandable. How could I expect him to trust me after just meeting? I certainly wouldn't trust me. Here was this guy who was supposed to be some sort of important legend, or something of the like, and he barely even knew anything outside his apartment. Mistrust was to be expected.

Riku walked through the door, and told us to get ready. Apparently, we were departing as soon as possible, and Sora and Kairi were already preparing the ship for takeoff. I was expecting the whole room to burst to life, and was let down. The only people who left the building behind Riku were Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Leon. So much for having an army.

-

That was it. Eight people against endless armies of evil, chaotic creatures. I had never felt as fucked as I did then. Even trying to draw on the courage and confidence of the others, I still couldn't see a way for this to end well, or last too long, for that matter.

Still staring at into the cockpit, I noticed something for the first time. As they drove, Sora and Kairi clasped the other's hand. I suppose it wasn't such a shock, after the King told me that they were so closely bonded, but I still hadn't thought it to be the case. The two of them didn't seem too public about things. Either that or I was oblivious, which probably wasn't too far from the truth.

"Fuck!" was the bullet that Riku shot through my skull, shattering my thought process, "How did they get here?" None of the three pilots seemed vary pleased. In fact, they seemed quite upset. Riku looked back at the five of us in the corridor. "Hey, we're almost to Destiny Islands. But it's infested with Heartless and Nobodies. You guys had better get ready to do some fighting."


	5. Contact and Torment

Note: I just thought I'd let you know, I figured out how to get rid of that repeated line at the beginning of each chapter, a

Note: I just thought I'd let you know, I figured out how to get rid of that repeated line at the beginning of each chapter, and will be implementing such tactics from here on out. Also, I think the claiming of what I do not own, and that which I do has been established, but I would also like to add this general plot to the list of shit I will claim. End transmission.

-

I couldn't see it, but I could hear water being sprayed upward as the ship displaced it while we skimmed what I believed to be a small ocean. More shouting was coming from the cockpit, but I tried to ignore it. My mind was more focused on not releasing my bowels. Get ready to fight? Fight what? With what? Was I supposed to use these Keychain things as tiny flails? I was not an experienced fighter. Sure I'd had my fair share of fist fights in high school, but that was two years ago, and a totally different case. Back then, I knew what I was going up against, and what the weapons being used were. I'd wager a bet that I got pretty damned good at brawling as well, but I had a feeling this was more than just hurt egos and black eyes.

I ventured a look at the four others in the corridor with me. Leon, sitting directly in front of me, had his gunblade in a firm grip, ready to pull it from his hip and go berserk. His eyes seemed to reflect the battle to come. Next to him, Tifa was stretching her arms as best she could in the cramped space, finishing by clenching her hands into tight fists, the leather gloves around them creaking as she did so. Overall, she seemed quite calm. Continuing counter clockwise around the rear of the ship, Cloud leaned against the back wall, his eyes closed, and his arms crossed. Leaning on the wall next to him, was his massive sword. I found it quite difficult to read him, but he did seem quite calm. Sitting next to me, Yuffie spun a giant shuriken around her finger by the hole in the middle. I must have made some sort of noise, because she offered a glance to me, as well as a brief smile. Not once, did the spinning blade falter.

The smile was reassuring, perhaps even warming, but it didn't help the pain in my gut. How could everyone be so calm? The only people who seemed to share my distress were the three in the cockpit, but it was for a different reason. Then, a thought shot between my ears, and I remembered the pleasure I had taken in killing before. It didn't help my situation any. Had these people also been pushed by a similar bloodlust? Did it consume them? If not, then how did they overcome it?

That's where the questions ended, and the worry along with them. I felt some sort of instinct kick in. As Riku walked down the corridor and stood at the back wall, next to Cloud, who'd grabbed hold of his sword at this point, he issued a command. I hadn't heard it, or at least taken note of what he said. Part of me knew what was coming. It let the rest of me know what to do. In some strange way, I felt like a machine, nodding at my comrades as the back wall fell open, letting Riku and Cloud drop out over an island, crawling with something black, and moving. Soon after they'd cleared the ship, Tifa jumped out after them, followed by Leon, then Yuffie, then myself. I hadn't even given any thought to it. I simply jumped, as if I knew what I was doing. Well, part of me actually did, and I almost feared that it had taken over.

Sand and dust formed into mushroom clouds as the five of them hit the beach before I did. They were all standing up by the time I made my impact, forcing the ground to bend beneath my feet, and create a crater. As the sand and dust settled, I rose, turning around to watch the Gummi ship circle around the area as Sora and Kairi looked for a place to land. My head turned back to the rest of the group, or where they'd landed anyway. Instead of waiting for me, they left five holes in the sand, and rushed off to face the enemy.

The instinct machines stopped processing for a moment as I remembered my situation. I was in unknown territory, standing against an unknown foe, and all without any means to defend myself. Panic mode started taking hold again, as I reached into my pocket, hoping for some sort of, well, anything I could use to fight with. All that followed my hand out was the Keychain with the jagged cross on it. That wasn't going to do much good. Not unless these things had an allergic reaction to silver.

Speaking, or thinking, of the devil, I looked up to notice a rather large number of black beings standing before me, closing in. They seemed to be small humanoids, with no distinction other than two small antennae, and a set of vibrantly yellow eyes. Were they not moving closer to me with malicious intent, I'd have thought them to be almost cute. I held out the Keychain, kind of hoping I had been right in my sarcasm about the silver addiction. The creatures didn't seem to hesitate any.

I could feel myself starting to numb again, the machines coming back to life. I knew that they were fully intent on fighting, but what with. Surely, I wasn't going to attempt to punch these things to death. My useless worrying was silenced as I felt a strange sort of energy in my chest. If I hadn't known the rules of reality, I'd think that my heart was begging the Keychain I held out in front of myself to protect it. Needless to say, the rules of reality no longer applied to me.

A brilliant flash emanated from my hand, shooting outward, away from the chain resting in it. I let go out of surprise, expecting the object to fall to the ground. Rules of reality were proven wrong once again. The brilliant light seemed to bend, and take shape. As it dulled, and my pupils dilated again, I saw one of those keys floating in front of me. Its handle was black, and the ring around it was an outstretched pair of bat's wings. At the tip of the wings, as well as the base of the handle, there was a glowing, deep red orb, encased in a black, metal ring, from which the Keychain dangled. The blade of the key seemed to work in stages. The first section, stemming from the loop, was comprised of five vines, four black, angling toward the one in the middle, being a deep, transparent red, alike to the orb. Then, there was a break in the blade, cutting off as the vines made contact, and continuing on with just the red vine for a small bit before the four black ones rejoined. The second section was a bit more like an actual blade, but with grooves cut in, between the vines. There was a second break, identical to the first, then the third section, which was a flat blade, triangular, and with a red stripe through the center. At the top of the third section, the barb shot upward. It appeared to be three thin vines, wrapped around one another.

I stepped forward, reaching my hand out. The instinct allowed me to be hesitant, but also kept whispering in my ear, keeping me very aware of our current situation. In the other ear, I could hear the blade calling out to me. It wanted me to use it. It beckoned. The blade told me its name as I wrapped my fingers around the handle. It was the Keyblade, Gaia's Torment.

The short shadows seemed to slow their advance as I brought the blade to my side, looking around myself. The instinct machines slowly crept back into control, pushing me into a low, wide stance, holding the blade in my left hand, in Hell grip, behind my back. My free hand hung down my body, relaxed behind my forward knee. A smirk crossed my lips, daring the shadows to attack. With these machines, I had finally realized, came an insatiable blood lust, and I feared what I might do more than I feared the black figures in front of myself.

One of them decided to be brave, or maybe just stupid, and jumped at me, claws outstretched in an offense. Gaia's Torment tore through its abdomen, following through and switching my facing to the opposite direction as the blade continued, with its momentum, along the ground. I had noticed, as the shadow burst into a puff of black smoke, a black heart flew upward from its body. The heart didn't go very far before the red orb at the back of my Keyblade drew it in, sealing it within. I didn't have long to think about it before I was instinctively flowing, from the follow through, into an attack of my own. I lunged forward, swinging the blade horizontally, and low, cutting through another four shadows before me feet and the friction that held them to the ground stopped my forward motion. Again, black hearts flew out of the smoke, only to be sucked up by Gaia's Torment.

I turned around, dangling the blade behind myself. There were still an alarming number of the creatures surrounding me, with more joining in by the second. It wouldn't be long before I didn't have enough room to move. The instincts wanted to fight more. I was able to control myself long enough to make them reconsider. The only was I was going to get any ground against these things was to find some help.

As if on cue, white and red Keyblades were flung through the air from behind me. As they flew, they cut the shadows in two, carving a broad row through the crowd, almost to the same extend as taking a razor to a scalp, and shaving the hair from it. The blades circled back around, turning the single row into a broad circle. The creatures had all released the black hearts upon death, but the hearts were not drawn anywhere, left to fly, freely, into the sky before fading away. I looked over my shoulders to find Sora to my right, and Kairi to my left. "You guys are just what I needed," I chuckled before letting the machines lunge me forward into the sea of shadows.

I tore through a few as I landed, swinging wildly, yet precise. Gaia's Torment kept sucking up hearts as I kept turning shadows into smoke. It felt good, being powerful. I felt like I could take down a billion enemies, and still be standing. I could fight forever, were it not for my mortality, which I sincerely doubted I still had. Slicing through twenty more shadows with a circular sweep, I jumped into the air, only to come back down with the blade in front of me, cutting a black critter in half, the long way before sending myself spiraling forward, swinging the blade around myself as I tore a row through the shadows. Standing up, I snapped the blade down, forcing a shockwave outward from my position that shredded the black creatures into pieces. I was untouchable.

I was untouchable? Finally overcoming the instinct machines, I stood on an empty beach, looking back toward my two companions, who'd been fighting at the same time, but were just barely keeping up. As Sora walked up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder, I came to the full realization of what had just happened. Since when was I able to fight like that? How? I dropped my weapon, watching it hit the sand and disappear with a flash, soon following suit and falling to my knees. Looking back up at Sora, then down the beach at a bewildered Kairi, I could feel tears welling in my eyes. I had killed again, and I enjoyed it, again. My throat closed up, barely allowing breath as I drew my hands out before myself, staring at them through salt water. Even without the blood painting them red, they were a testament to a killing machine, something that could bring about so much death and destruction without the slightest thought about it. I allowed myself one question as I focused on those wretched symbols. "What the fuck am I?"


	6. Recoil

I had found a tiny, very cylindrical island just off the beach, raised quite a bit above ground level, and connected to the mainland by what used to be a bridge. There was a single, bent tree on the island, which I sat next to, dangling my feet high above the water as I watched the sun set. The horizon was on fire, a Gummi ship disappearing into it. Riku had taken Cloud, Leon, and Tifa to clear out the other islands. Yuffie stayed behind to give Sora and Kairi backup if those things came back here.

I was still in shock, replaying the carnage over and over in my mind. There was no possible way I was human anymore. Not after I'd taken so many lives without so much as blinking. Then again, maybe I was never human to begin with. I did seem to have abilities far above the natural threshold for a normal person. I may not have been able to access them without the help of the machines, but I still had them. Though, I was starting to blame less on the machines called my instincts, and more on my possible lapse in sanity.

There were a few footsteps behind me, and they were getting closer. Turing around, I found Yuffie staring down at me. Her giant shuriken was strapped to her back, which was a reassuring sign that things were calm around here. My gaze shifted back to the darkening sea before us as she sat down next to me. "Where are Sora and Kairi," I asked.

"Oh, you know," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she threw a thumb in the direction of one of the huts built into the trees, "Young couples these days..."

"Wha- Oh," I stopped my question, grasping what she meant, "Well, I'll take that as a sign that we won't have a legion of those shadow critters up our asses soon. What were those things anyway?"

"Heartless. The manifestation of those who have given into the darkness in their hearts."

"So," I sighed, "Those are the Heartless. What was up with the hearts that flew out of them?"

"Well, I'm no expert, but I've heard Merlin saying something about when a Heartless dies, how the dark heart is released to join Kingdom Hearts, which is the heart of all worlds, the birthplace of all hearts. Unfortunately, it's also the birthplace of the Heartless."

"Oh," was all I could manage before another sigh escaped my throat.

"Hey," the lady ninja half shouted, poking me in the head, "What's with the depression? We beat those things. You should be happy."

I was silent for a very long time, simply watching the last few seconds of sun drop behind the horizon, a single flash of green lighting the water before true nightfall. Now, all I had to stare at was the reflection of the moon and the stars, which may have been the clearest I'd ever seen them. Finally, I turned back to Yuffie, who seemed to be both anxious for an answer, and elsewhere in her mind, as she stared at the water beneath our feet with the faintest of smiles. "I'm afraid of myself," I said, not exactly sure of how to explain my unhappiness.

"Afraid of yourself?" she questioned as her attention came back to me, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I killed those things without mercy. I enjoyed it. Hell, I don't even know where I obtained the ability to do so."

"Yeah, Sora and Kairi told me that you were pretty crazy out there."

Crazy? Maybe I was. "Not helping," I mumbled.

"Get over it," she sneered, a bit jokingly, "Besides, you never let me finish. I was going to say that maybe the Keyblade made you into some sort of badass, super powered... guy."

"Maybe," I mumbled. For the moment, I decided to go with that, even though I was pretty sure it wasn't true. "That still doesn't explain my maniacal actions."

"Hey, people with a lot of power get that way sometimes."

Her words sunk in so deep that they hit bone marrow. What if it was the power that consumed me? That couldn't be it. The instincts kicked in before I even started fighting. But what if the power did consume me eventually? What then? Would I turn on these people I could almost call friends? Would they stand a chance against me? I remembered the king telling me once that I had the potential to be the most powerful being in existence. Well, those may not have been his exact words, but it's what I remembered gathering from what he actually did say.

Yuffie must have taken note of my long silence, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, I'm gonna go get some sleep," she paused briefly, "provided those two aren't making too much noise. Try not to beat yourself up too much. They were only Heartless." With that, she got up and walked away. I heard a slight splash, and assumed that she jumped off the island, instead of traversing the mangled bridge. Just like that, I was alone again, left to ponder the consequences of my actions, among the various other mysteries of the universe, which multiplied about a thousand fold since I watched Earth come crashing down. Yet every few minutes, my head still took me back to Yuffie, and the faint smile on her face as she sat next to me. I chalked it up to her just being a generally happy person, and leaned against the bent tree as the rhythm of the waves slowly lulled me to sleep.

-

I was awoken by the sound of crashing water, jumping enough to fall off the pedestal island, landing in the water below. Yuffie, Sora, and Kairi were standing on the beach, watching Riku and the others land the Gummi ship on the sand. As I swam back to shore, I could see them unloading, Riku from the retracted cockpit, and the others from the back of the ship. My shoes made squishing noises as I walked along the beach. They had smiles on their faces, so whatever news they had must have been good.

"Well, this place is in the clear if you remembered to lock the door, Sora," Riku said as he jumped from the ship to the sand.

I watched long enough to see Sora reply with a nod, then I tuned out of the conversation, paying more attention to my wet clothes. It wasn't the fabric that worried me, as I put a hand into my back pocket, pulling out my wet wallet. I opened it up and sighed. The wallet would dry as well as my clothes. The money I had in it, was lost to the sea. I picked out bits of green paper, dropping them on the beach. A familiar voice caught my attention as I returned my wallet to its spot with a resounding squish.

"Hey there," Yuffie said as I stopped walking and stood next to her, pretending to listen to the others talk about the conflicts they encountered on the other islands, "Sleep well?"

I did notice a slight pain in my back, cracking it slightly by arching backward. "Yeah, just fine."

"Well, now that you're showered and up, we're about to take off."

"Where to?"

"I don't know. To be quite honest, I don't think they even know where to start."

"Wait," I put a hand up to interject, "Why did we stop here in the first place?"

Sora must have heard me, because he walked up to me with an apologetic look on his face. "Well, it's kind of a bad excuse," he said, "but we hadn't been home in a while, and we wanted to make sure everything was okay. As you found out, it wasn't. But, thanks to you, we can rest easy."

Thanks to me? He said it like I was a key figure in the fight. I'd only taken out about half of the Heartless on this beach. If anything, the thanks should go to the four who crammed into the ship and saved the rest of the world overnight. "Please," I said, "I've done nothing worthy of praise."

"I think he's still a little upset about going nuts," I heard Yuffie whisper past my ear and into Sora's. I shot her a glare, which was returned with a grin. "You need to lighten up, Hugo. We can't have you moping about while you're supposed to be fighting the Heartless."

"Yes, Hugo," came a voice from behind me, "Cheer up." I turned to see the white version of myself staring at me again. "What? We can't have you committing suicide over a triumphant victory. That would be bad for both of us." As the last word came from his mouth, white me disappeared, shifting into a wisp of smoke.

I turned back to the rest of the group, who all held confused expressions on their faces. "Did," I stuttered, "Did anyone else see that?" The confused faces became even more so. "There was just a guy standing right here. He looked exactly like me." There was a long, awkward silence, which was broken by two whistled notes, one of a higher pitch, then a second that was about a full step lower then the first. I recognized it as the whistle that went along with the word 'cuckoo.' Shooting a glance to its source, the lady ninja, I was greeted by laughter.

"Come on," she chuckled, "I was only joking. Someone needed to break the silence." She walked toward the open rear of the ship, shooting a glance over her shoulder at me. "Come on. We're going." The others nodded, following suit by stuffing themselves into the Gummi ship. I shook my head, still slightly confused on the appearance of my pale self. Another whistle broke my train of though as Yuffie waved from the open hatch. I wasn't about to be left behind, making my way into the ship, taking my seat next to her with a squish. Soon after, the hatch closed, and we took off for a new world.

-

I really hadn't expected it to be such a long trip. We'd been in transit for the better part of ten hours, only having made a quick stop to check on things there. Needless to say, that world was fairly quiet. I'd tried asking Riku where we were going, but he didn't seem to interested in telling me. Thus, I spent more than plenty of time getting to know my comrades from Radiant Garden. As it seemed, they'd lived there as long as they could remember, aside from the time they'd spent on a world called Traverse Town, when Radiant garden was apparently taken over by the Heartless.

After learning a bit more about their home worlds, I only felt it right to tell them of Earth. I was no historian, but I knew enough of world history from the various classes I took throughout my schooling. I thought that I should probably leave out some of the worse chunks of humanity's past, such as the Civil War, both World Wars, as well as a few things alike to the Aztecs cutting out people's hearts. There was no reason to mention them. In fact, bringing up Earth's dark past would probably kill any respect that these people would have for the human race, and for me.

"So, in your world, people had no idea that other worlds existed?" Leon asked, seemingly accepting of my presence by now. He and Yuffie were the only ones who were interested enough to ask questions. Cloud seemed to be swimming through his own head again, and it didn't look like a very easy task. Tifa was focusing her attention on trying to get him to let her jump in the water as well.

"Nope," I responded, "We had other planets, which were kind of like other worlds. But all that we knew about them was that they were balls of mass flying through space. As far as we'd found, there wasn't anyone else living on them."

"So, you never had any Heartless?" Yuffie's curiosity was piqued now.

"Not really. About the closest we had to the Heartless were evil people." I remained silent for a while after that sentence, ignoring the questions that followed. My mind brought me back to the plaguing questions. I wasn't allowed to think for too long before Yuffie noticed that I wasn't listening to her and Leon, and started waving her hands in front of my face. "Listen. I'm no expert on my world. I simply lived day by day, just wondering what I was going to have left to eat. I didn't even contribute to society. So, whatever questions you still have will have to wait until we find someone a little smarter than I am." It silenced them pretty quickly. Part of me felt bad for making the subject drop, but the rest was still trying to convince myself that I wasn't a monster. Needless to say, the rest of the trip was rather silent.

-

There was nothing but black. It was all I could see, even when I tried holding my hand out in front of myself. Panic started to grab hold, placing some very unpleasant thoughts in my head. About the time I was ready to scream, falling to my knees, I noticed myself kneeling on a pearly white floor. As I looked around, I noticed a whole room encasing me, made of the same material.

"Sorry about that. Forgot to turn on the lights." Suddenly, white me was sitting on the ground in front of me. There was no entry, no puff of smoke. He simply was, from nothing. "You probably shouldn't be kneeling like that. This floor's pretty hard, and it'll wreak absolute havoc on your knees if their on it for too long."

I took the advice, repositioning myself into a sitting position, crossing my legs and placing my hands on the floor behind me, resting on them. For some reason, I wasn't very worried. Actually, I was rather calm, considering the circumstances. That didn't mean I wasn't curious. "So," I finally broke the brief silence, "What exactly are you?"

"What? I am not a what. More like a who, actually," White explained, a small chuckle escaping as hi did so.

"Well, then _who_ are you?"

"Isn't that obvious? I'm you."

"What?"

"Shit. I didn't think we were def. I'm you. You're me. We are the same person."

"I got that. But, then, why are there two of us?"

"Fuck if I know. I know just as much as you do."

"But you know something. Otherwise, you wouldn't have said anything."

"Oh. You mean how I told you not to kill yourself, twice? Yeah, that just seemed kinda logical. I mean, I can't let us die, can I?" White was very condescending, and almost too sarcastic.

"Well, why am I here?"

"Um... I think you fell asleep on the ship. That would make this a dream. It would only make sense that you should be in your own dreams. I should be the one asking you why I'm here?"

That only confused me even more. "Wha-" I was cut short by the whole room shaking.

"Well, looks like it's time to go. Do us a favor? Don't die."

-

That was odd. I didn't remember falling asleep. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was alseep, aside from Riku, who was still flying the ship. Sora and Kairi were cramped into Sroa's seat, his arms locked around her. The way they were, even though I hadn't witnessed much of it myself, almost made me jealous. Trying to refocus my attention, I looked to Leon, who was hunched over, elbows rested on knees, and brown hair hanging in front of his face. Tifa had her arms wrapped around Cloud's neck, as he sat on the floor in front of her seat. Both of them were breathing deeply, with closed eyes as her cheek rested on the crown of his head. It didn't look very comfortable, but I wasn't about to wake her up to ask questions.

About the time I realized that this apparent couple was also making me a little jealous, I noticed a sort of weight on my leg. Looking down, I noticed Yuffie's head resting on it. I could feel an eyebrow raise as I contemplated my current situation, finally deciding to tap a finger against her forehead lightly. It took few taps, but her eyes eventually opened up. She sat up, sighing as she rubbed her eyes, and eventually yawned.

"Hey," she accused, pointing a finger at me, "Don't go getting the wrong ideas now. You were the only thing I had to use a s a pillow."

I pointed to the headrest above the back of her seat. "What about the thing that was designed to hold your head?"

"Don't even start with that. You have no idea how bad the history is between the back of my head and hard objects."

I refrained from making a sarcastic joke, opting to simply lean on the half wall that divided our seats from the cockpit, closing my eyes. I would have kept the argument going, but my head was already so full that I apparently needed to create multiple personalities to hold everything. As I drifted back to sleep, I felt Yuffie's head return to my leg. I also swore that I could hear a slight giggle. It didn't matter though. Especially since I probably imagined it.

-

"Hugo..."

"Hugo... Wakey wakey."

"Dammit, Hugo. If you don't wake up, I'm just gonna leave you here."

That last one got my attention. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by a finger between my eyes. It was, of course, Yuffie's. When she noticed my cognition, she retracted it and gave me a smile. "You sleep like a brick," she started, "And don't even get me started on the snoring. And don't forget the sleep-talking. Geez. That's the last time I use you as a pillow."

"What's going on?" I asked, finally noticing that she and I were the only people in the Gummi ship. I also took note that the hatch was open, and there was a brightly lit sea beyond it. "Where is everyone?"

"They're going to go see how badly this place got hit."

"Got hit?"

"Yeah, the Heartless attacked this place. And their still running around all over the place. And they left me here to get your ass out of bed. If I have my way, they won't hear the end of it."

I finally stood up, walking out of the ship, still a bit groggy. Her footsteps sounded out behind me. Rounding the ship, and looking at something other than the sea, which was now to my back, I stared at a beach. For the most part, it was uninteresting. There were a few mechanical towers stuck in the ground among the trees. Those? Those were what made this ordinary beach into something that piqued my curiosity. "Say, Yuffie. What world did you say this was?"

"I didn't," she said, walking down the beach, away from the ship, and me, "But, now that you ask, this place is called Spira."


	7. Frozen Reality

_Note: I would like to disclaim Final Fantasy X as well. Also, note that there are a few people missing from the FFX cast. I have reasons for this, and you need only ask, but I'm not going to write them in, unless it makes sense. Out of sight, out of mind. This message will self destruct in ten seconds._

-

We had all gathered in a village that was pretty close to the beach where we'd landed. The architecture of the place was pretty nice. There were a bunch of small, blue, spherical huts, all lined up fairly nicely among the dirt. In the center of the dirt road that ran through the village, there was a circle engraved in the ground, with a few markings around it. I figured that it was some sort of community fire pit.

There were two buildings that weren't huts. One of them looked to be a lodge of some sort. It was rather large, built of some sort of blue canvas, and had a few beds visible from the half open door. The other building was absolutely massive, in comparison to the rest of the village. That's where most of the people of the village had taken cover. It was made of some blue stone, and it also had a bit of an outset from the building itself, which wrapped around the entire thing, protruding outward, into the village. Along the outset, there was an elegant canopy, which seemed to also be made of some sort of solid material, but not stone. The door was closed, so I couldn't see inside. Still, it was quite impressive. When I asked what it was, I was told that it was a temple. It seemed fitting that people would seek safety there.

When the rest of the group had joined Yuffie and I, they brought along new members. One was a man dressed on a red robe, with one sleeve hanging to his side. The arm that was supposed to be in the sleeve was slung inside the robe itself, pulling it open a bit to reveal a skin tight, black shirt underneath. His hair was mostly black, but there was a bit of grey mixed into it. I couldn't see his eyes, as they were covered by a pair of shades, but I did notice two ends of a scar on his face that would have lined up with an eye. In the sleeved hand, he held a long, somewhat broad sword, which he flung on his shoulder. Below the sleeve, I noticed a white canteen of some sort, tied to the belt that held the robe closed.

The second man that had accompanied the rest was much younger than the first. If I had to venture a guess, I'd put him at 20-ish, around the same age as Riku and Sora. He had blonde hair, which was spiked down and out. Around his neck, there was a pendant which resembled a stylized 'T', with barbs which had barbs, and odd curves. Most of his chest was visible, but he did have a shirt on. It was yellow, and extremely short. It also had a white hood near the base of the neck. Along his left arm there were various leather straps and metal cuffs, which made up a makeshift sleeve. Two blue straps extended around the shoulders connected to what appeared to be a black skirt with a zipper down the middle, and a black belt across it. Under that, was a pair of black shorts, the right leg being longer than the left, and bearing the same odd 'T' as his pendant. This man held a rather impressive sword. It wasn't as long as the robed man's blade, but it seemed to have a similar length to broadness ratio. At the end of the blade, it hooked back around, ending in a barb. The whole thing, minus the handle, seemed to be made of a transparent metal, which was filled with a vibrantly blue liquid.

"Hugo," Sora addressed, "I'd like you to meet Tidus and Auron." He held out a showcasing hand respectively, first to the blonde man, then the one in the red robe. "We go back a bit. They're gonna help us clear the Heartless from Spira."

I nodded to each of them. "Nice to meet you."

"We'll have to be short on formalities," Auron said, "We've much work to do. The longer we sit here talking, the worse it gets for the rest of the world."

Riku stepped up to give a few orders. "Right. So, Auron and I will take care of the forests in the area. Leon, you, Cloud and Tifa cover the ruins near the falls, as well as the surrounding area. Kairi and Yuffie, you two go back to the ship and work your way along the beach and the river." He stopped briefly to offer Sora a glance, then resumed. "Sora, you, Hugo, and Tidus guard the village."

Everyone nodded, including me. I wasn't too thrilled about staying here while everyone else went out got to plat hero. Then again, the smaller the fight I got myself into, the less chance I had of losing control. At least that was relatively reassuring. As the rest of the group left and split up, I made my way to the temple steps, taking a seat. It wasn't long before Tidus and Sora sat down next to me.

"Looks like we drew the short straw," Tidus sighed.

"Yeah," Sora responded with a sigh of his own, "Well, at least it gives us time to catch up."

I interrupted, trying to keep my mind in shallow water. "So, how do you guys know each other?"

"Well, Tidus used to live with Riku, Kairi, and me on Destiny Islands. We lost contact when the Heartless attacked the place," Sora started explaining.

"While he was out playing hero," Tidus picked up where Sora left off, "I washed up here. We came across each other again a few years ago, when he was looking for routes through darkness."

It seemed simple enough. I wasn't really all that interested. It was just conversation to keep me occupied, delaying my insanity that much longer. "So, why did you stay here when Sora visited, instead of going back to your home world?"

He offered a small chuckle. "This is my home world now. After a few years, I made a bunch of good friends. Besides, this place is a little nicer than that tiny cluster of islands." He shot a humored glance at Sora, who seemed to be someplace else, perhaps lost in the past. I picked up the feeling that he was only kidding about the last bit. "So, what about you? What's your story?"

"Me?" I asked, trying to assemble a noble history as I gave them random syllables to work with. "I-I'm not really sure if my story is worth telling."

"Hey," Tidus chuckled, "I don't mean to pry. But, every story is worth telling. Some people just find certain ones to be more interesting."

When he put it that way… "Well, I'm from a world called Earth. I think there's another name for it. Gaia? Anyway, I didn't even know that there were other worlds out there until a few days ago. That's about it. There's not a whole lot to tell, unless you want to know about my struggles during my adolescent years."

He seemed distracted. "That'll have to wait. We've got company. Hey, Sora, snap back to reality here."

Tidus was right. We did seem to have company. While we'd been talking, a hoard of Heartless gathered outside the village. By now, there was a slowly advancing river of black. These ones, though, were different than the ones I'd fought before. There were some that looked like anorexic, shadow dogs. Others appeared to be humanoid, but with two sets of arms, and were very muscular, as well as large. There was something tugging at the back of my skull. Something about this wasn't right. The Heartless were moving too slow.

That didn't stop Tidus or Sora, who had jumped into the middle of the group. I could see black hearts being thrown into the sky, knowing that the two of them were attacking relentlessly. I held out my left hand, trying to call upon Gaia's Torment. Nothing came. Relaxing the arm at my side, I drew a deep breath. I didn't have the Keychain anymore. It disappeared with the blade when I dropped it on the sands of Destiny Islands. I didn't want to break out the second one yet, in case I needed it later. Micky forgot to tell me that the Keychains were, apparently, expendable items.

I finally realized something else odd. As I watched Tidus cut through enemies with his brilliant, blue blade, and Sora, now dressed in red, crushing them with two Keyblades at once, I noticed that it was actually me watching. There was no back seat driving. The machines seemed unresponsive. Of course, they picked a great time to not help me fight. I held my hand out again, trying to concentrate on the Keyblade I'd used before. Nothing.

My attention turned back to the fight. The Heartless' numbers were growing exponentially, even with the rapid rate that Tidus and Sora were slaying them. It was, for all intents and purposes, a stalemate. However, at the current rate, it wouldn't last long. A roar turned my attention to my left, where one of the massive, four armed Heartless took me by surprise. A shadowy fist connected with my gut, sending me flying. I landed in the lodge, breaking the table that broke my fall. Lying motionless from the pain, I could hear the footsteps on the dirt outside. They were getting closer. I tried to get up, but only made it into a sitting position before another fist threw me through the back of the lodge. My back collided with a tree, a loud crack sending pain through my entire body.

I was able to get to my feet this time, but not quick enough to avoid a third blow, which pushed me further into the forest. More Heartless were gathering around me at this point, as I was a fair distance from the safety of the village. One of the dogs pinned me to the ground, its vibrant, yellow eyes hanging mere inches away from my own as it growled.

This was it. I was going to die here, in the forest of some random world, at the hands of dogs and ape men. Tears gushed from their ducts as I watched more creatures crowd around me, all seemingly ready to strike, yet willing to wait until the dog on top of me was done.

I began desperately wishing, hoping, begging for a way out. The dog's head reared back, the mouth opening wide. My heart stopped, and the chest it sat in burned with pain. Time seemed to slow down, relishing my absolute terror in my last second. I begged and pleaded for something, anything. I just wanted to live. The price didn't matter. That's when a voice whispered in my ear.

"Legacy, do you wish to live?"

"Yes," I cried in desperation, though no words came from my mouth, "Please. I'll do anything."

"You simply need to open your heart. Let the darkness in. You will find your salvation there. Simply think my name, and I will be there."

"Let the darkness in?" I let my heart start beating again, and a slight sensation came with it. I started falling backward, away from the row of sharp, black teeth that were about to tear my face off. Before I got too far, I called the name of my savior, letting the darkness in my heart beckon it to come. "Gaia's Torment."

A bright flash shot forth from my left hand, through the dog's abdomen, protruding through the spine. The light solidified, taking the familiar shape of black and red vines. The heartless was now impaled on Gaia's Torment, quickly turning into a cloud of black smoke, the open mouth simply passing through my skull. I slowly rose to my feet, no longer in control. A smirk crossed my face as my Keyblade shifted into Hell grip. The Heartless around me didn't stand a chance now.

I leapt at one of the four armed ape men, stabbing Gaia's Torment into its chest, my feet connecting with its abdomen. Before the beast turned into smoke completely, I launched myself off of it, sending myself through a back flip, and ultimately landing on the back of one of the dogs, using my blade to decapitate it at the base of the neck. One of the humanoids charged me. I simply held my weapon out at my side and stepped to the right, letting Heartless cut itself in half. Not wasting a second of time, I began running back to town, spinning Gaia's Torment around myself in reverse figure eights to cut through the legion that had assembled while I was pinned down. A large hand crashed into my shoulder as the lodge came into view, and was strong enough to push me to the ground. I didn't stay there for long, rolling backward, lunging at the ape man who'd assaulted me as soon as my feet made contact with dirt. Needless to say, the beast was now a wisp or two of black smoke.

I stepped through the hole I'd made in the back of the lodge, and over the broken table, back into the village itself. Tidus and Sora were still quite occupied with an endless stream of Heartless, but it seemed that they were starting to gain ground. The machines paid little attention to this, making their way to the crowd where they fought, targeting a Heartless within the fray. Gaia's Torment was shifted back to Heaven grip as it rose above my head. When it came down, it hit nothing but a solid wall of ice.

The machines gave me my control back, even if only to have a chance to think about current circumstance, which was… cold. As I pivoted myself, I noticed that everything was covered in a thick layer of frosty ice. The ground, the buildings, my companions, even the Heartless were all frozen solid. My breath was a visible, white puff of fog, and I could feel my skin start to ripple into goose bumps.

"So, you are Gaia's Legacy," came a voice from behind me. I turned around to see a figure at the top of the temple steps. They were dressed in a deep blue suit of armor, a black cape attached to it. On the breastplate, there was the insignia of the black heart, the two barbs off the elongated point, and the red 'X' in the middle. The suit covered every inch of the figure, from a full, blue helm, which let long, tan hair fall from the back, to azure greaves. Perhaps, though, the gauntlets were the most interesting. They were massive. What looked like a smooth, blue shield covered the forearms, ending with a short, but seemingly sharp blade that protruded past the open hands. The hands themselves were covered in blue plating as well, and each finger ended in a curved claw that looked capable of slicing through diamonds. "I must say, I'm not very impressed."

"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?" I asked, the machines adding a bit of a sneer to my tone.

"Where are my manners? My name is Vexless. I am one of the eleven Heartless Knights." His voice was rather deep.

"So, these critters behind me, the ones encased in ice. I'm assuming they're your troops?"

"Mere pawns. They serve me only one purpose: To draw you out. Now that they've done that, I have no qualms about letting them stay that way."

"To draw me out?" I didn't like the sound of that. "And just why did I need to be drawn out?"

"Well, I highly doubt you would have come to us peacefully."

"You have a point." Gaia's Torment found itself back in Hell grip, held behind me as I lowered into a defensive stance. "And what business do you have with me?"

"You ask a lot of questions. It's nothing but a waste of time." The figure started down the steps, and toward me. "I'll cut you a deal. If you come with me without putting up a fight, then I'll give you all the answers you desire."

"Not a chance." He never made it to the bottom step. I let the instinct machine take the reigns again, lunging at the knight. His reflexes were sharp, and held me in mid air by deadlock. My blade connected with the shield of his gauntlet, which was held out before him now, and stopped there.

"Such a pity. Why must all the 'heroes' be so close minded?" He extended the arm that I was attached to, flinging me backward. As I corrected myself and landed on my feet, I slid at an alarming speed, slamming into a frozen hut.

"I'm no hero." It was my true self talking through the machines. If I was to let them turn me into some sort of bloodthirsty monster, then I deserved no such title. I picked myself up, pushing off the hut I'd run into. By now, Vexless was running at me, his clawed and out to his side and open, ready for a swipe. I ducked under the attack, pushing with my back foot to send myself into a slide as I swing my Keyblade at his shins. My attack connected, but bounced off the azure plating. Taking Gaia's Torment and slamming it vertically through the ice, I used it as a pivot, slinging myself back at the blue knight. I pulled my weapon from the ice, sliding into a shoulder charge. That was a bad idea.

My shoulder, covered in only in black cloth, collided with his blue plated chest. It hurt quite a bit, but there was now permanent damage done, maybe some bruising at most. I did, however, succeed in knocking him over, as well as myself. I scrambled to get back to my feet, only to have them swept from underneath me, crashing into the ice again. As I tried to get up again, a greave connected with my chest, pinning me down. It wasn't over yet. I wouldn't let it be. I grabbed hold of the armor clad ankle attached to the captivating foot, pushing forcefully as I sent my body into a roll. Surprisingly, it worked, and I had a chance to stand again. The machines craved offense. I let them have it.

I rushed Vexless, swinging the Hell gripped Gaia's Torment upward and across his abdomen. A clang sounded out, but the impact seemed to distract him long enough to allow me a second strike. I hooked the blade around the back of the knight's neck, pulling it back to my side. He followed the force, face planting into the ice at my feet, quickly rolling out of the way as I stabbed downward at him. He used his claws to handspring back to his feet, in a crouching position, the blades on his fingers still stuck into his fingers. I didn't give him a chance to relax, lunging and slashing at his head. Again, nothing came of the attack but a clang, but it knocked him back to the ground. When I tried to pin him to the ground as he did me, I realized that my feet weren't moving. I looked down to find them covered in ice.

"You're tenacious as all Hell. I'll give you that much," the azure knight said, climbing back to his feet, "To be honest, I didn't really think the fight would have lasted this long. Maybe I underestimated you. I guess that means I can stop going easy on you."

Vexless raised a clawed hand, bringing the blades down on me. I braced for impact, closing my eyes, unable to move. There wasn't one. Only the sound of metal hitting metal came. I opened my eyes, noticing that a black Keyblade was jammed into the shield of the claw that had been raised. It wasn't long before Riku rushed in to retrieve his weapon, pulling out of the gauntlet and not hesitating to attack the knight. Vexless jumped back. Riku followed, staying on the offensive. His black Keyblade was cutting through the armor where Gaia's Torment had failed. It wasn't long before Riku found himself frozen in mid swing. My chest sank. I was too confident in him.

Vexen made his way back to me. By now, the machines knew that they wouldn't get any more action, and had let me back to the forefront. There was a rumbling from behind me. I turned as far as I could, and looked to the sky. A massive creature sat in front of the clouds. It looked to be a gigantic whale, two large fins on its back. It had four fins that looked more like the legs of a quadruped, and a long lizard like tail. Even at this distance, I could see the black, barbed heart emblem on its chest.

The blue knight now stood before me, his armor cut up and letting blood seep through. "I was hoping to have a little more fun, but I haven't much left fight in me after that little incident. Well, Legacy, it looks like you're coming with me." Before I could ask any questions, a shielded gauntlet slammed into the side of my head. I felt myself fall over, numb, as everything went black.


	8. Damn Questions

My eyes opened, much to my own surprise. I seemed to be in some sort of jail cell, made apparent by the small room with bars for a front wall. There was a throbbing pain in my head, my vision blurring and refocusing with every pulse. I thought it the better choice to not try and stand. Looking through the bars, I saw only another cell, much larger than mine, but vacant.

I tried to remember how I'd gotten here. There was Spira, then the Heartless, the blue knight, and then nothing. Well, at least I wasn't dead. That inspired another question. Why was I still alive? Better yet, what did these 'Heartless Knights' want with me? My vision pulsing to the rhythm in my skull was starting to piss me off. I slammed a fist into the floor, realizing for the first time that the ground was not concrete. In fact, it was warm. Finally taking my gaze off the other cell, I looked at the floor. I was sitting on what appeared to be very rough, grey skin. "What the fuck?"

The sound of a metal door sliding open took my attention. Looking up, I noticed a blonde woman standing in the open space that used to be the closed door to my cell. Her shoulder length hair was tied up into two pigtails that almost resembled antennae. Blue eyes sat in the delicate frame of her face. She was dressed in a hooded, yellow sweater, which bore the black heart, and a pair of jeans, which had rows upon rows of knives strapped to them. Had she not been one of my captors, I would have thought her rather attractive. "Come on," she sighed, "Vexy wants to see you."

I tried standing, and succeeded, but not by much. With my vision pulsing as it was, my stride was a bit wobbly. Vexy wanted to see me? What the hell was that supposed to mean? I made my way to the open door, where she grabbed hold of my hands. It was a delicate touch, but firm. She spun me around and bound my hands together. My mouth mumbled the word kinky as the machines took over briefly. The comment only made the binding tighter. With a push, she started us down some sort of corridor lined with cells. "Hey, would you mind telling me where we are?" I asked.

She didn't answer, at least not with words. Instead, she pushed me through a door, where what I saw, though periodically blurry, took my breath away. I was standing on the back of the giant Heartless whale I'd seen before. It seemed that we were hovering over a vast ocean. I looked over my shoulder, noting the building that I assumed these knights had built on the creature's back. "Well," I said, "I guess that answers that question."

Another push kept me moving. We rounded the building I'd been in, walking along the long wall that faced the creature's head. In the distance, I could see another structure. This one was much smaller, and seemed built of organic material, rather than the stone of the holding building. That small building was our target, apparently. It was going to be at least a ten minute walk. The machines were begging me to strike up a conversation. I had nothing better to do. It's not like I would be escaping any time soon. Even if I did, I had no idea where I was. For now, cooperation was my best option. "So, what's your name?"

She didn't respond.

"Okay, then, would you mind telling me who this 'Vexy' is?"

Again, she remained silent.

"You know, being cold bitch is really unbecoming of someone such as you."

"Please, stop talking," she said, seemingly with a struck nerve. I noticed, for the first time, that she wasn't being cold. There was a sorrow in her eyes, one that told me she didn't like what she was doing.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"I told you not to talk."

I stopped walking, letting her crash into my back. Turning around, I refused to move, no matter how many times she pushed me. "I want to know why you look like you're about to cry."

"It's none of your business. Now get moving before Vexless comes to get you himself."

"Please tell me."

"I'm afraid there's nothing to be told," said a somewhat familiar voice from behind me, "You should have listened to her."

I turned to see the blue knight from the village. He wasn't wearing his helm, so his tan hair fell freely past his shoulder, two locks falling just above his chest. His hands were also unarmored, wearing black gloves instead of the shielded gauntlets. "Now, if you would please accompany me to my lab," he said with a fake courtesy.

"And if I say no?" I asked, trying to be courageous, even when I knew the answer.

"Then I guess I'll just have to start the operation early," he responded, drawing a syringe from somewhere behind his back. He advanced on me.

I tried backing away, but the blonde woman held me in place. "Operation? What the f-" I was cut short by the stab of the needle into my neck. My breathing slowed, and the blurriness in my vision, which had gone away, had now taken over completely. I could feel the ground come rushing up to meet my face before the world went black again.

-

"My, my," I heard through the fog, "What an interesting subject. It looks like I won't have to do much work in here. Four hours in: The subject's heart is in tact, but it seems to be fading away very slowly. By my estimates, it'll be gone within a few weeks." It sounded like he was talking into some sort of recording device. My chest hurt worse than anything I'd ever experienced before. "Moving on, there seems to be an anomaly building itself within the subject's chest. It starts between the lungs and looks to be spreading at the same rate that the heart is disappearing. My guess is that it's what takes the place of the heart when the body is torn in two between Heartless and Nobody. As to why both are happening in the same body, I do not know. I will have to do some more research on this subject." He paused briefly, and I felt another needle in my neck, pushing me back into nothingness. "Subject had started to wake. Administered another dose of anesthesia. I will now be taking a look into the subject's mental processes." That was the last I heard before I felt nothing again.

-

My eyes opened again, revealing the white room where I'd spoken to the white version of myself. I was still asleep. White was sitting across the room, a smug grin on his face. What did he have to smile about? I was out cold, getting cut up, and I probably wasn't going to live through whatever 'operation' I was going through. If he and I were really one in the same, as he had claimed, then he'd be going with me. Yet, he was still proudly staring at me, as if he were a child with a secret that he wasn't going to tell me. "What?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"What do you mean 'what?'" he shot his question back at me.

"Why are you grinning like that at me?"

"I finally realized what we are."

"What are you talking about? We're human. Well, I am. I don't know what the hell you are."

"We used to be human, yes. But now, now we are becoming something even greater. It'll take a while, but we will be the strongest being on any world."

"What the hell? Where is this coming from? I thought you only knew as much as I did."

"Say, did you notice that blonde? I think she likes us."

"Don't change the subject on me. I want answers."

"Well, we'll never know. If you would have just let me talk to her, instead of trying to talk for me, I would have gotten her to spill."

I made a grave realization. The white version of me, the figure sitting across the room, staring at me with my own eyes, was the machines I'd been trying to take control of for the past few days. "You," I whispered, "You're responsible for the lives I've taken. All this time, I thought you were the only thing keeping me alive, when you're actually the very reason I'm afraid of myself."

"Who's to say that I can't be both? If you think about it, if I hadn't been the one swinging away out there, you'd probably have gotten us killed. Sure it's a little scary when you kill something for the first time, but I know you've gotten used to it by now."

He was right. I was starting to come to grips with stealing my victims' last breaths. That very fact was even more frightening than the actual act. White laughed. He knew that I knew he was right. "Well," I said meekly, "What now?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happens now? Do we become one person or something, now that I've realized exactly what you are?"

"I don't think it quite works that way."

"What are you talking about? You seem to know a whole hell of a lot. How?"

He was becoming more serious now, the smug grin fading from his face. "I'm afraid I can't tell you right now. Rest assured that you will know when the time comes."

There was a long silence followed. I was taking the time to absorb what I'd been told. I no longer believed that this white version of myself was me at all. It knew far too much that I didn't. As I stared at him, looking into my own eyes, the sense of pride had left them, replaced with something of a sorrowful emotion. He wanted to tell me everything, I knew he did. Something was holding him back. It was almost as if White was afraid to tell me his secrets. I finally decided it better not to pry too much, but work my way to the answers slowly and subtly. "So, where did you learn to fight like that?" I broke the silence with a query.

"It's simple, really," he said, "You just need to know what a body is capable of, know that it can do what you tell it to, and not have any doubt. The body is really just like a computer. It's the user that usually holds it back."

"So, what you're basically telling me that, if it's possible, I can do it."

"Exactly. The doubt you have about your own abilities is a hindrance. You see, there are two sides to everything, the physical and the mental. The physical is the constant, whereas the mental aspect is the variable."

"So, my body can do anything I tell it to, I just need to accept the fact that I can."

"Well, there are restrictions. We can't fly, for one. But that's about it, in a nutshell. You're really a lot smarter than I give you credit for."

"Thanks," I said, finally coming to terms with not knowing exactly what White was. The room started shaking, and I knew that my body was waking up. "Well, it looks like I'm about to go. Say, next time, do you think you can give me a few more answers?"

"If circumstances permit, yes."

-

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I was back in my cell, staring across to the empty one. My chest felt like it was on fire. My head was pretty close to the same. A shuffling came from the corner of the room. Looking over, I saw a tray with food sliding through a slot in the back wall. That was nice of them, to offer me something to eat. Too bad I wasn't going to indulge them. There was too much pain running through me to allow for food. I was reminded of the 'operation,' feeling around my chest for stitches. There weren't any to be found, not even any cuts, scars, or any of the like. "Hey," I called to the still open slot, "What exactly did that guy do to me?"

The slot quickly shut, leaving me without an answer. Well, that was a little short of excellent. I tried standing, but failed, falling back to my ass. As if to answer my query himself, the tan haired knight walked down the corridor, and had stopped in front of my cell. He had an aura about him, one that hinted at his amusement. "What did you do to me?" I restated my question.

"I've done nothing to you," he smirked.

"What about your little operation?"

"It was really more like an autopsy than an operation."

"But I'm not dead."

"I said 'like' an autopsy. I merely wanted to discern what you were. I have my answers. You are free to go." He opened the door and stepped aside.

Managing to stand, I slowly made my way to the open door, keeping eye contact with Vexless. I didn't trust him. Why put forth the effort to abduct me, just to do nothing, and let me go? As I passed him, a slight twinge in the back of my skull made me take note of the gashes in his blue armor, as it hadn't been repaired since his run with Riku. I stopped and turned around, an idea running between synapses. "You said you wanted to know what I was, and that you had your answer. Could I ask you to share your discovery?"

"Well, I don't see a reason why I shouldn't let you in on the plan you'll fall into anyway," he started, "You see, you a-"

"Silence," the machines made me say, cutting him short with a brilliant light that extended through Vexless' body, going in one of the gashes in the front of his armor, and exiting through one in his back. As the light solidified, my hand held Gaia's Torment, impaling the Heartless Knight on it. I watched as he slowly turned into a black smoke, blowing past me as the wind picked up. The black heart he possessed sunk into the Keyblade's orb as I turned around to see the blonde woman at the end of the corridor, a knife in her hand. She was about to throw it at me, but a spear extended in front of her, the black hand holding it just inside the door.

"Larxess, stop," I heard, "Vexless said that he was free to go. I suggest we honor his last request, and let the Legacy go." She put the knife away, following the spear out the door. I was even more confused now than I had been before. Why were they acting like this? What plan was I going to fall into? What the fuck was I? I ran out off the holding building, chasing the woman. Though, when I was finally outside, neither her, nor the one who'd saved me from her were in sight. I stepped to the edge of the Heartless whale's back, looking at an island not too far in the distance. There seemed to be a small village built onto docks that protruded from the island.

I turned around to meet a bolt of lightning that crashed into the whale's skin at my feet. Blinded, I fell backward, letting go of my weapon and hearing the ring that accompanied the flash that dismissed it. The wind rushed past me, caressing the back of my neck as I fell. It was soothing, the sensation of plummeting. Though, in this case, it didn't last long, as I slammed into the ocean below the whale, the collision succeeding in making me black out. If there were two things I seemed to have a knack for, it was falling and losing consciousness.

-

I came too again, resting on a beach of some sort. Sitting up, I noticed nothing but ruin in the water at my feet. The village built on docks that I'd seen before was now nothing but wooden planks and broken bodies floating out to sea. In the distant sky, I could see the Heartless whale, knowing full well that it was responsible. I wanted to chase after it, more for my own purposes than to avenge the village, but flying was apparently the one thing I couldn't do. Footsteps crunched sand behind me, begging me to look. I didn't have a chance to.

"Hugo!" screamed a familiar voice as arms wrapped around my neck, "I thought we'd lost you forever." She let go and helped me to my feet before attacking me again, this time wrapping around my torso and burying her head into my chest.

"Yuffie?" I asked, gently placing my hands on her back, "It's good to see you again." I pulled away, looking at her face. It was covered in tear tracks. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," she whispered, a quiver in her voice as she fought back any further tears, "Everything's fine now."

"Maybe we should leave you two alone?" The comment came from Leon, who was walking down the beach, followed by Tidus. He placed a hand on my shoulder as Yuffie finally let me go. "It's good to see you again. Tidus and Riku filled us in as best they could. From what I can tell, we're looking at a tougher enemy that we might have thought. Everyone else is waiting by the temple. Come on, maybe you can shed some light on these new foes." He started back the way he came, walking into a forest that touched the sand.

I looked back toward the ruined village. "What happened here?"

"Sin," Tidus answered.

"Sin?"

"That giant Heartless. Most of the people in this world believe it to be a punishment for using machines. We'll probably get blamed for luring it to Kilika with the Gummi ship."

The questions just kept coming, faster that the answers would, I was sure. "Why did you guys come here anyway?"

"Well, to be honest, we'd given up on searching for you on Besaid Island, and were chasing the remaining Heartless out of town here. We'd cleared the forest and the temple when we saw the port get destroyed. As luck would have it, we found you here not too long afterward. Well, Yuffie did, actually. She ha-" He was cut off when she put a hand over his mouth. After exchanging threatening glances, she let go and he started in the same direction that Leon went. "Well, everyone's waiting. Come on."

I watched him disappear into the trees before turning back to Yuffie, who was staring out over the ocean. "How long was I missing?"

"About three days. Everyone was worried sick," she mumbled.

"Even you?"

"Of course."

"Mind if I ask what the embracing greeting was all about?" I asked, stepping closer to her.

"Naturally, I was happy to see you," she said, pausing briefly, "Don't go getting the wrong idea. You're just the only…"

I stopped her, placing my hands on her hips and closing in on her. Before she could finish her sentence, I pressed my lips against hers. It was a bit one sided, as she was probably shocked. Before too long though, she returned the gesture, warm breath flowing from her mouth and down my throat as her soft lips pushed back against mine. I felt a tear roll down her cheek, and onto mine. Pulling away, I noticed the smile on her tear flooded face. "I'm the only what?"

"You're the only thing I have left," she choked, pulling me in for a tight embrace as she dug her face into my chest. As I put my arms around her, I noticed her shoulders rising and falling in a spastic fashion. I also noticed that my shirt was getting drenched. For the time being, I just held her, watching the sun dive into the oceanic horizon as she cried to my fading heart.


	9. Chasing Your Sins

For a moment, I'd forgotten everything. I thought that, maybe, the fading heart that Vexless had mentioned, maybe it wasn't true. Maybe the sedatives made me hear things. It wasn't unheard of. Though, there was a sinking feeling in my chest, one that said I was only fooling myself. Deep down, I knew that this newfound happiness wouldn't last very long. Even as we stood at the ocean's edge, our shadows growing until the darkness consumed everything, I could feel my heart fading away. Everything was slowly going numb. As much as I tried to fight it, I knew I was losing the battle. Eventually, I would be nothing more than a shadow, destined to die at my friends' hands. I put my chin on Yuffie's shoulder as I brought her closer, until her back pressed against my chest, and wrapped my arms around her waist. As we both watched the stars flash to life, I let a slow stream of tears fall from my cheek. It's a strange feeling, losing your humanity.

-

It was a little rude of us, to make the group wait like that. We ascended the long, wide stretch of stairs that lead to the temple. Now out of breath, I could see the building. It looked to be made of the same sort of material as last temple. This one, however, sunk into the ground. There were rooms on either side of the temple's wide mouth. The doors were closed, but I had the feeling that there were people taking refuge behind them. Standing in the middle of the vast, stone platform the stretched before the temple, was our ragtag group of fighters. They seemed to be rather annoyed.

"What took you so long?" Riku asked, "We've been waiting here for an hour."

Kairi shot him a dirty glance. "Go easy on him. He's probably had a rough time." She then looked to me. "Please, don't feel like you have to apologize."

"Hey," Riku growled back to her, "We don't even know if we can trust him anymore. We don't know what kind of things they did with him. For all we know, he could be a Heartless in disguise."

"He looks perfectly normal to me," Sora interrupted.

"Whatever." Riku shot a glance to me before walking away from the group to lean against a short wall that bordered the stone platform. "You're going to have to earn my trust back, Hugo." Without another word, he stared out over the forest below the wall he leaned on.

Yuffie and I stepped closer to the group, our fingers brushing through each other once more before she dropped my hand. Riku was right. How did they know I wasn't a Heartless? How did I know? I must have put myself into a trance, because I didn't remember anything between Yuffie dropping my hand, and waving hers in front of my face. She seemed rather lively, considering.

"So, tell us about these Heartless guys," Sora said.

"Well," I started, "They call themselves the Heartless Knights. The one who attacked the village called himself Vexless. I don't remember much between fighting him and waking up in their holding cell."

"Holding cell?" Leon questioned.

"Yeah, it looks like they've claimed that huge Heartless, Sin, right? Well, that's they're base of operations, I think." I probably shouldn't have been the one trying to explain things, being, perhaps, the least educated on the weight of my own words. However, I kept going. "I only came across three of them. There was Vexless, who's dead, a blonde woman named Larxess, and someone who had a spear. I didn't see much else of him."

Sora seemed to be taking everything in, staying quiet for a short while before responding. "Organization XIII." Everyone but me seemed alarmed. Even Riku came back to the group to confirm what he heard.

"What's Organization XIII?" It was probably a stupid question, judging by the looks I got.

"They were a group of Nobodys. The Organization was much smarter, though, almost human." Sora's tone was more forgiving than I'm sure Riku's would have been. "They were able to control the other Nobodys. The leader of the group was named Xemnas. But I'm pretty sure we killed them all, so I'm not sure why they'd be back, and for the Heartless no less."

"Wait," Riku interjected, "Xemnas was Xahenort's Nobody. Remember, we fought the heartless counterpart before we even knew of the Organization."

"You're right," Sora confirmed, "And you mean _I_ fought him." He thought for a moment before seeing what Riku meant. "So, what you're saying, is that these 'Heartless Knights' are like that? The Heartless half of Organization XIII?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, what are we going to do about them?" Auron finally joined in, "Surely, you don't plan to sit and speculate forever, while they're out deploying their Heartless armies, and taking people's lives."

"You're right," Riku said, "We're going to need a plan. Let's split into two groups, the Heartless Hunter group, and the Sinchaser group. Sora, you and I will spearhead the Sinchasers, followed by Kairi, Tidus, and Auron. Hugo, you're coming with us too. I want to keep an eye on you. The rest will take the Gummi ship and exterminate the Heartless around Spira."

"Wait," I interrupted, "If they're taking the ship, then how are we going to catch up with Sin?"

"We want the element of surprise. How are we supposed to sneak up on them if we're flying behind them? That's the other purpose of the Heartless Hunter team. They're supposed to be decoys, taking the attention, so we can get the jump on the Knights."

"You never answered my question."

I could tell Riku was getting frustrated with me. His eyes showed it, and his voice lowered. Maybe he wasn't used to people seeing the holes in his military tactics. "I guess we'll walk."

I could see Auron walking away out of the corner of my eye. "I suggest we start walking then," he said, getting straight down to business.

It wasn't too long before the group split in two and dispersed. I watched Riku as he walked behind Auron. Who gave him authority? Why did we always have to follow _his_ plan? When did I stop wondering what he kept behind his mask, and start worrying that he was right about me? Offering a glance over my shoulder, I noticed that Yuffie was still there with me.

"Be careful out there," she whispered. I could almost hear the hold that her sorrow held on her voice. "Don't let me lose you again."

"Don't worry about me," I tried to sound reassuring, "I've got some pretty capable people watching my back." Hoping I didn't hurt her, I turned back around and started after Auron and the others. "Take care of yourself, okay?" Honestly, I shouldn't have gotten her involved with me. I'd only break her heart when I lost mine. As I jumped the wall at the edge of the stone platform, my chest sank, hearing a light whimper. As much as it hurt, it was better than the alternative. Falling into the forest below, I found myself almost wishing that the Heartless Knights would kill me.

-

After realizing another hole in his plan, Riku had us back track to the ship. Apparently, Kilika was an island, and we couldn't exactly swim across an ocean. I suppose my pointing that fact out didn't help his image of me. The others had dropped us off in a city named Luca. It was fairly impressive, building an entire city around what looked like an arena of some sort. Tidus had told me that it was meant for something called a Sphere Pool, which was for the sport of Blitzball. I didn't understand completely, but I didn't have to. The rest of the city was comprised of a series of docks that circled that same focal point. There was a boardwalk, leading to a fork, on path taking one to a theatre, the other to a plaza. Beyond the plaza was a staircase, which led out of town.

Unfortunately, the place was crawling with Heartless. That meant we had a fight on our hands. However, since this team's objective was to chase down Sin, we didn't have to clear the area out. All we needed was a path through the shadows and keep moving. I had already summoned Gaia's Torment, with a little help from the machines, and was waiting for the signal to move. If we didn't move together, we were more likely to lose someone. Unfortunately, I was the last to be ready to move.

Riku raised his Keyblade. That was the signal. We moved forward, Riku at the front, next to Sora. Behind them were Kairi and Auron. Taking the rear alongside me was Tidus. Most of the Heartless around were the smaller, humanoid shadows, so getting through them wasn't going to be a particularly difficult task. One leapt from a stack of crates, coming down on me, but meeting Gaia's Torment. We kept moving, passing the entrance to the stadium, as well as some sort of counter. Now on the boardwalk, the Heartless were fewer, having less space to occupy. Riku and Sora led us straight ahead, cutting through the shadows that got in their way.

We had finally reached the plaza, the home stretch. As we approached the steps, a massive bolt of lightning struck the ground before us. The group and I stopped cold, almost wincing in pain as the thunder sounded out. When sight was finally available again, I saw a yellow suit of armor, very similar to Vexless'. The helmed rested in a plated arm, leaving the owner's head visible. I recognized the blonde antennae right away. Before us stood the woman Heartless Knight who'd tended to me while I was being held on Sin: Larxess.

I heard a laugh from behind us, and turned to find a second knight. This one was dressed in silver, but had less plating. It still had the breastplate with the black heart emblem, and grieves, not to mention a wicked helm, which resembled the head of a dragon, the mouth propped open but the visor that hid the face. Spouting from the base of the dragon's skull, was an array of black hair, tied into think braids. Most everything else was covered with simple black cloth. The hands were the only things left completely unprotected, each holding a double pointed spear.

I twinge in the back of my head let me know that the machines wanted to play. Having no reason to deny them, I agreed. My emotions eroded, leaving me to feel nothing but numb. My companions had already begun rushing their chosen targets. Riku was screaming though the air, his black Keyblade raised to strike the now helmed Larxess. Her helm was simple and round, but had two blades that rose upward from the sides, looking like long, sharp ears. Tidus was directly below Riku, his flowing sword already sliding upward toward Larxess' ribcage.

Behind me, where the dragon faced, spear holder stood, I watched Auron leap into the sky above the dragon, coming straight down, his impressive blade first. Sora and Kairi were flanking the knight, coming from either side, closing in to swing their Keys. One thing I did find odd, was the lack of Heartless. The whole situation screamed trap. The machines wanted to dive headlong into it.

They chose the target they already knew, Larxess. I rushed her, swinging just after Tidus and Riku. Two knives blocked my blade, and bolts of lightning stopped the others, throwing my comrades backward. Looking over my shoulder, I caught the tail ends of symmetrical back flips as Tidus and Riku corrected themselves, sliding backward on their feet before flinging themselves back in the direction of Larxess and myself. Turning my attention back to her, I pulled my blade down, disarming her of her knives at hand before thrusting back upward. I barely scratched the plating between her breasts as she arched backward, and into a flash kick. She landed in a low crouch that almost looked like she was about to run a marathon. I, on the other hand, went airborne, spinning around a horizontal axis slowly, with a bruised chin. Now upside down, I noticed her lunge between Tidus and Riku, sticking them each with a knife as she passed by, and stopping directly below me, looking up.

I let the machines correct my body while I fell, holding Gaia's Torment downward, ready to jab into Larxess' skull and I dropped onto her. Sadly, I never got the chance. A massive bolt of lightning struck from directly above as she held her hand out toward me. The electricity forced me to drop my Keyblade, watching it dismiss in a brilliant flash. I did still manage to fall on top of the she knight, though, pinning her to the ground temporarily with a numb but heavy body. As she pushed me off, my body rolling onto its stomach as sharp pins worked their way through my entire body. I felt an armored foot press into my back, forcing the needles to go berserk. My throat let a short yelp escape, in hopes that the foot would remove itself. Finally confident in my ability to move again, I looked skyward over my shoulder to see the yellow knight holding a hand down toward my face, a vast array of sparks jumping between the plated fingers. She was charging another bolt, it seemed. And this one was going to be pretty big, judging by the time she was holding it.

A knife cut through the air, jamming itself into the outstretched wrist, between the plates on the forearm and hand, and knocking it off course. A bright flash was followed by a deafening boom right next to my head. For a brief second, all I saw was white, and all I heard was the incredibly high pitched whine of blood rushing through the veins in my ears. The first to come back was my vision, the blurred outlines of two people fighting in the sky above me. I was now able to sit up, the needles subsiding, and my back minus one foot. Looking around, all I could see was faint outlines, but they were slowly starting to fill with color. A blurred version of Tidus was on one knee, his blue shadow of a sword jammed into the ground beside him. He didn't look too good. Turning my head slowly, I noticed a slightly less blurred Sora coming down on the dragon knight, who was held in a deadlock from both sides by Auron and Kairi.

With a flick of the wrist, the knight broke away from both of them, sending himself backward. The two, who had kept pushing against him, clashed blades. In the half second that the weapons were crossed, parallel to the ground, Sora used them as a stepping stone, landing on them and pushing off right away as they fell back to their owners' sides. This time, it was him who ended up in a deadlock, suspended in the air by the shear force between his Keyblade and the two crossed spears. As the dragon uncrossed them, Sora flew backward, skidding to a halt a short distance away. He seemed to lower his head for a second before disappearing in a bright flash. The flash bolted toward the silver knight, ending in a second deadlock. As soon as the light collided with the spears, Sora reemerged, now clothed fully in red, and holding two blades. One was his white Key; the other was the simple gold and silver Key that I'd seen during the dream that seemed so long ago.

Suddenly, a yellow helm crashed to the ground before me, forcing me to realize that I had my vision back completely. The clangs it made as it bounced a few times let me know that my hearing was well on its way to returning. The sharp fuzz that accompanied them told me that it still had a little bit to go. I stood, calling my Keyblade back as I looked to the sky to see Riku and Larxess falling back toward me. When they hit the ground in front of me, I could see blood dripping from the yellow knight's nose. Riku hit her pretty good. Her eyes told me that much. They also showed me an intense emotion. At first, there was an absolute rage, boiling away at the mark that this silver haired punk had left on her beautiful face. I couldn't blame her. Yet, as I continued to stare at those eyes, I noticed the deep sorrow. She didn't want to be doing this.

My focus pulling back, I noticed that she was keeping Riku at bay with a knife in one hand, blocking his attacks, and even managing to push him away. The free hand, though, was held toward the sky, open and glowing with sparks. I looked up to see a darkening sky. Low rumbles sounded out from increasingly black clouds. It wasn't too long before rain started dripping down like tears from the Heavens. I looked back toward the storm's creator, noting the tears slowly rolling down her cheek as she denied Riku yet again, this time following up by throwing the knife at him as he stumbled backward. As the blade caught him in the shoulder, she held both hands upward, her tears intensifying. The rain mirrored her emotion, now coming down in buckets. I found myself wondering where the rage was being projected into the storm. That was, until Larxess brought both hand to her sides, massive bolts of lighting striking the ground around Riku. When the bright flashes cleared, he was crumpled over, not dead, but probably numb and unconscious.

I gave a nod to the now standing Tidus, getting one in return. We lunged at the yellow knight simultaneously, him from her right, and me from straight ahead. Time seemed to slow as the machines stepped to the left to avoid a bolt of lightning, then instantly right for another. Ducking down, they dodged an array of thrown knives before lunging forward to dodge a third bolt. I shot a glance toward Tidus, noticing that he'd been struck with another knife, and lay with his back on the ground. With Gaia's Torment raised to my side, I let out a roar that hurt my throat. Time resumed as I stopped directly in front of here, looking downward through drenched, black hair. I heard choking, and looked upward. My Keyblade was stuck in Larxess' abdomen, blood flowing out a slow, but steady pace.

"Why?" asked the machines, or rather, White, "Why are you so sad?"

She choked a few inaudible words in response. White pulled the blade out of her stomach and dropped it to the ground without dismissing it. The yellow knight fell forward, landing in the arms that caused the wound. The machines helped her stand again, placing my hands on her waist.

"Please," he persisted, "Tell me your suffering."

"I," she finally choked, "I am emotion."

White pulled her closer, into a strong emotion. The rain seemed to intensify even more, not that it mattered. Anyone outside was already soaked enough to wring a lake out of their clothes and hair. Something startled me. A tear was rolling down my cheek, but it wasn't mine. Were the machines crying? I felt my shoulders jerking up and down as my eyes closed and my face buried itself into a plated shoulder. The arms wrapped around Larxess tightened the one sided embrace.

"So," came from my mouth in a whisper, "This is how it feels. Please forgive me."

Within an instant, my body was embracing a wisp of black smoke. I slowly fell to my knees, crying tears that now surpassed the lightening rain. White watched through drowning eyes as Larxess' black heart was absorbed by the Keyblade. He reached my hand out to grab it, pulling it closer, eyes fixed on the crimson orb. His apology came from my lips once more as he lifted Gaia's Torment from the ground and stood. I could feel my temperature rising, and my chest growing slightly heavier. The machines wanted something to kill. They found the dragon, still fighting Sora. Kairi was next to the fountain, tending to a wounded Auron with some sort of healing magic. The machines Lunged at the dragon, clashing the Keyblade with a spear as the second danced with Sora's dual Keys. The silver knight pushed us both away, his smirk visible even through the darkened visor of his helm.

"Well," he chuckled, deflecting Gaia's Torment as the machines kept rushing him, "It would seem that it's you two on me now. I knew that Larxess wasn't especially strong, but I thought she could at least best the likes of you. No matter. I'll just have to take all the credit for myself. Sailess is sure to acknowledge me as his equal then."

"Shut the fuck up!" White roared, keeping up with his seemingly futile assault, "Just who are you anyway?"

"Where are my manners? My name is Xaless. I am your executioner."

"Like Hell you are." The machines threw me at the dragon, swinging Gaia's Torment at the reptilian helm. The attack connected, and with utmost success, as both spears were now at my back, falling to the ground as the knight reeled backward. The metal face cracked and crumbled, the visor shattering to reveal the dragon's true form. He was nothing more than a man. In fact, he was less. He was a Heartless. White couldn't help but pull a smirk across my lips. "I am _your_ executioner."

"That," the dragon growled, "That was a big mistake." He let out a loud roar, literally. The armor he wore exploded as his body quadrupled in size, massive wings erupting from his back, and a tail to match them extending from the spine. The head shifted as well, now mirroring the helm that was once upon it, except being made of assumed flesh and bone, rather than metal. Xaless' skin seemed to get rougher, changing to a dark shade of grey. The black heart still embedded itself into his chest. Before me now, there was no more man. In the man's place, there stood a dragon.

The beast swiped at me, missing as White sent us into a back flip, landing on the hand that struck forth. My legs rushed me up the attached arm, readying an upward swing. The second hand came crashing down, almost flattening me against the arm. As the massive hand slid down the arm, it took me with it, brushing me off, and back to the ground. Standing again, I felt a smirk slide across my face. The machines sent me into the air, swinging at the dragon's chest. I was knocked away by one of the giant hands, slamming into one of the nearby buildings.

The machines weren't phased. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Unfortunately, the dragon took to the sky, rearing its head back for what I assumed was to breathe fire. I shot a glance toward Sora, who'd been catching his breath. Pointing toward the beast in the sky with a finger, I held my blade toward the fountain. He seemed to grasp my idea, and rushed toward the structure, jumping on top of it and launching himself at Xaless. Sora swiped both of his blades, cutting into the beast's chest before rebounding further upward. He was just over the shoulder when the tail swung up and slammed into him, sending him back toward the ground. The distraction had succeeded in delaying the fire, as the dragon had to begin inhaling again.

Now it was my part. I lunged toward the falling Light Legacy, jumping above him. As I made eye contact, he corrected himself and landed with both Keyblades held like a baseball bat. As I came back down on him, he swung, striking my feet and sending me toward the dragon at blinding speed. I reared Gaia's Torment back, readying to slash forward when I came into range. Fire came to greet me, but I cut through it, the air bending around me at such a velocity, and acting as my shield. Keeping with my aim, I entered the mouth that the flames were exiting from. Now. I swung the Keyblade, slicing through the back of the dragon's soft throat, severing what I hoped was the spinal column in the process. Continuing through the hole I'd torn, I hooked the barb of my weapon on the upper edge, using that point as a fulcrum as I swung around and landed on the back of Xaless' skull. Running toward the crown, I kept the barb hooked into the beast's skin, tearing a gash along the path I traveled. Once I reached my destination, I lifted Gaia's Torment above my head and thrust it downward, into the skull.

Xaless fell from the sky, hitting the ground with a thunderous crash. I walked off of its head and continued toward Sora as a huge cloud of black smoke rose behind me. The dragon's black heart was consumed by my Keyblade before I dismissed it. The Legacy of Light was dressed in black again, not currently wielding any Keys. I was in control again. White had submersed after killing the dragon, his rage finally subsiding. Sora and I shook hands on a job well done before Riku, finally conscious again, had come to us.

He didn't seem too pleased by the victory. Admittedly, our group wasn't in too great of shape, but we'd been jumped, taken by surprise. None of us had expected them to be quite as strong as they were. It didn't matter what excuses were brought up though. Riku would still have something callous to say. I though, deep down, he may have hated me.

"We'll rest until Heartless Hunters get here," he said coldly. I couldn't hold back a quiet laugh. He still thought things were going according to his plan. "Then we continue after Sin without Tidus or Auron. They're too injured to come along."

"Sounds fine to me," I said, walking to a nearby building that had a sign marked 'Tavern,' "I could use some rest anyway."


	10. Atonement

"Would you mind telling me what that was all about?" I asked from across the white room. He seemed very mellow now, almost as if his huge revelations about what we were meant nothing anymore. For all I knew, that was the case. It infuriated me, that he wouldn't share his findings with me. Even more frustrating was the fact that I didn't seem to have access to those thoughts, even if he was what he claimed to be. Instead of answering me, he simply slouched against the wall, his head hung low and his arms limp on the floor. Were it not from the gleam of intermittent tears, I may have believed that he was asleep. "Dammit, White! Answer me. Say something!"

"I was wrong," he sniffled, looking up at me finally through glistening eyes, surrounded by soaked cheeks, "Horribly, horribly wrong."

"Wrong? What were you wrong about?"

"It wasn't just me," he continued, almost distant, as if he weren't talking to me, but to himself. In essence, that may not have been too far from the truth. "He was wrong too. Everyone was wrong."

"Wrong about what?" I repeated, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"We're doomed," he trailed off, lowering his head again. After a few more tears, his sobbing slowly turned to laughing. White was starting to scare me.

"Look at me!" I shouted, walking across the room and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him a bit. I got nothing but laughter in response. Out of any other options, I raised a hand, striking him across the face. Surprisingly, it hurt. My head suddenly turned aside from the impact of my own hand. It would seem that White really was what he claimed.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in a low tone, staring me directly in the eyes as I turned to look at him.

"You were losing your mind. I had to do something to snap you out of it." I backed away a bit, now sitting before him. "Now tell me what's going on. Who was wrong about what?"

"First of all. I was not losing my mind. If that happened, you'd be just as fucked as I was." He smirked, knowing what I was thinking. How did I know that I hadn't already lost my mind? "As for who was wrong, everyone was. They were wrong about what we are."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when the King told you that you belong to neither darkness, nor light? It's the other way around. You, we, belong to both, actually."

"Meaning what?"

"Well, you know what the personification of darkness is: The Heartless. Now, the personification of light is the other half of that: The Nobodys."

"Wait, I thought that both were bad. I mean, the both kill people, right?"

"I wish you would stop interrupting me. Yes, it is true that they both kill people. But who said that the light was good? And why should darkness be evil? Light is light, and dark is dark. The problem with most people is that they see everything in black and white. No one ever sees the universe for what is. In truth, it's very grey. In fact, even 'Good' and 'Evil' are man-made. When your soldiers kill people simply because they were ordered to, they are revered as good, but when a street thug takes a life to protect his family's, he's called a killer, a murderer, evil. Why is that?" White smirked as he found me speechless. "Now, have I answered your question? May I continue with my previous point?"

"Please do."

"As I stated previously, we belong to both Light and Darkness. That said, we are both Heartless and Nobody. The Heartless part is you, and I am your Nobody. Are you following?"

"But isn't that what everyone is? Heartless and Nobody are two halves of a whole, as I understand it. So, wouldn't being both simply mean that we would be merely human?"

"That's a common misconception. You're correct. They are two halves of a whole, but in the same respect as puzzle pieces. When you put puzzle pieces together, they are no longer puzzle pieces, but a puzzle, a picture. The same goes for Heartless and Nobody, when the right two are conjoined, they become something completely different from both. They become human."

"And how's that different from what I pointed out?"

"We are not human. We are both Heartless and Nobody, disjointed, and within the same body. That's the reason that there are two of us here. Were we to become one, then things would be different."

"So, why are we separate? And why is that a bad thing?"

"I don't know why. What I do know, though, is that if we aren't put together soon, then we will divide into our respective beings, and be no better than Organization XIII or the Heartless Knights. Without a soul to control you, your emotions would take complete control of your actions, and you would spread your sorrow and hatred to every heart you could. As for me, I would roam the universe, trying to find a heart to replace you. In short, we would become the very things that we're set on destroying."

"So, how do we connect?"

"I don't know."

The two of us were silent for the next few minutes. I was letting all this new information sink in. He was letting me do that. The concept was over the top, the notion of two separate beings sharing one body, and the idea of combining them to make a new person. This whole thing went against the very laws of the universe.

I looked back to White, remembering my original question. "So, what was all that drama with Larxess?"

"What about it?" he questioned.

"That whole ordeal about holding her close and showing so much affection. For one, she's the enemy. For two, if Yuffie ever found out, I don't think she'd be too thrilled."

"What? Are you the only one allowed to love now?"

"Touché." He had a point there. I hadn't considered the idea that he might develop interests in the same way that I did. "Well, then maybe you could explain some of the things said."

"Like what?"

"Like, what did she mean when she said that she was emotion?"

"Oh, that. Well, Heartless are hearts that have given into darkness. Being hearts, they are the emotion of the people that they used to be, as well as the conscience, the personality, if you will. Nobodys, on the other hand, have no emotion, but are driven by logic, and understanding. As the soul, their purpose is to guide the heart, and make sure that it doesn't get in over its head."

"So, if Nobodys have no emotion, then how come you shed tears, and express anger? How are you able to have love?" I thought I had found a hole in his theory.

"Ah, yes. I've been meaning to apologize. I've found that, since we share the same body, I am able to use you as a conduit, and experience emotions through you. They are much more amazing than I had thought they would be." He smirked, and then lowered his head. "Anyway, I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

One last question still taunted me, its answer being very elusive. "So, you never told me how you know so much."

"There's a theory, of a collective consciousness, where everyone has access to the anything that anybody else knows. It's actually rumored that infants hold the greatest stake in the well of knowledge. Unfortunately, as they grow up, that knowledge is seen as mere fantasy, and they are told every day that it's all in their head. Eventually, they stop visiting this vast library of information, letting go of the ability to return. Without returning, you can't check out books anymore. In a sense, they forget everything that doesn't hold direct precedence in their daily life. I'll give you one guess as to what this library is called."

"Don't tell me, Imagination."

"Exactly."

"That's one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever heard."

"Then tell me something. You took algebra in high school, right? Can you remember even half of the theorems and algorithms that you learned?"

"What? Probably not, but that's an entirely different idea. What you're telling me is that everyone who ever exists has the ability to all the knowledge in the universe, but we simply forgot it. That doesn't match up with reality."

"Two months ago, if I had come to you and told you that you were actually only half of yourself, that there are millions of universes out there, with inhabitants just like yourself, or your fellow humans. If I had told you about the Heartless, the Nobodys, the Keyblades, would you have believed me then?"

"Probably not," I answered in a meek voice. I could see where he was going with this.

"And yet, here you are, talking to yourself in the depths of your own head, while your body is sleeping on a different world than your home." He smirked, knowing that he'd proved himself. "We'll talk later. Right now you've got to wake up. Why don't you have a chat with Sora, he seems to be rather down at the moment."

-

My eyes opened, showing me a dark room, lit only by the moon shining through the open window. Getting out of the bed I'd slept in, I left the room, making my way down the stairs, and into the lobby. I had the only room upstairs, while Tidus and Auron rested in one of the ground level rooms. Their door was open, letting the heavy breathing of two men who'd been severely beaten to fill the lobby. Next to that room, was a closed door, where I had assumed Kairi was sleeping. Having not seen Sora, I exited the building. Sure enough, he was sitting on the steps, staring at the night sky.

"Where's Riku?" I asked, taking a seat next to him.

"He's over at the entrance to town, waiting for the others," he said, "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I'm sure Kairi's lonely."

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Well, I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment. I figured that fresh air would do me some good."

"Maybe."

"So," I let my voice fade off, "If something's up, I'm decent at listening."

"Thanks, but it's more of a personal problem."

"Understandable. But I'll leave the offer open, if you change your mind."

We were silent for a long time. I could see that something was painfully wrong, and in turn, was saddened that I couldn't help. What was going on behind his blue eyes? Why did it hurt me so much that I did nothing but stare at the sky along with him? I hung my head, disgusted at my own apparent uselessness.

"It's just," he finally broke the silence, "I met my other half a few years ago. His name was Roxas. While I was asleep for a year, he made a life of his own. He had friends. When I woke up, I took that all away from him. In essence, I ended his life. Sometimes, I think he hates me for it. What right did I have to do that?"

Was he serious? He was getting depressed about something that happened so long ago? Still, I felt obligated to help him out. "Well, I'm not sure I can sympathize, but I've been in a somewhat similar situation. I'm still not sure what exactly happened, or will happen. All I knew was that certain events occurred, that I didn't have any control over. The only option I had was to accept it and move on." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, if he was a part of you, then he still has a life, as well as friends. So long as you let him share your emotions, there's no way he can be anything but happy."

Sora offered me a brief smile, standing up and opening the door. "You might just have something there." He went inside and, I could only assume, to bed.

"Yeah, maybe," I sighed to no one. Even I didn't fully believe what I'd just said. For the moment, I simply sat on those steps, unable to even convince myself that I was tired. I was still confused from what White had told me. By all accounts, it shouldn't be possible. Then again, by all accounts, this whole universe shouldn't be possible. Maybe, just maybe, I really was insane, locked up in a padded room, ranting and raving about Heartless, and Nobodys, and how Earth got destroyed.

-

"Wake up, dumbass," an unkind voice snorted as its hands shook my head. "We're leaving."

"What?" I sat up, taking a look around. Apparently, I'd fallen asleep on the steps. Riku was standing above me, in the process of walking away. "Leaving? Where are we going?"

"We're continuing our chase after Sin. We should be able to move a little faster with only three people."

"Three? Wait. There were six of us chasing after Sin."

"Well, Tidus and Auron are too badly hurt to continue, so they're going to rest on the ship. Kairi's tending to them." He was already halfway across the plaza. "Come on; get your ass in gear. We're losing time."

I stood up and followed him to another set of stairs that led up to a platform that overlooked a fair amount of Luca. From that platform, there was yet another set of steps, then a long dirt road. At the beginning of the road, sat the ship. Sora gave Kairi one last embrace before backing off as the ship began to lift off. Soon enough, it was gone, leaving just the three of us. It figured. Just when I thought we were going to have strength in numbers, those numbers get cut in half.

"So, how are we going to catch up with Sin?" I wondered, "We don't even know where it is."

"Leon told me that it's sitting in a huge, low lying plains area that the locals call the Thunder Plains. It's not too far from here," Riku admitted.

"And just how do you propose that we make it there before it leaves?"

"Sora, if you would?"

Sora nodded, holding his hands out in front of him. The ground at his feet began to glow a vibrant white. Some sort of circular design, made of the same, pale light, appeared in the air at his fingertips. He pulled his hands back, summoning his Keyblade. Then, he thrust it into the design, the blade aiming at the sky. Twisting his wrist, he spun his weapon clockwise at a very high speed, until the glowing circle was drawn onto the blade. He then thrust the Key upward. The white glow appeared around all three of us, closing in and tightening around our bodies. After a few seconds, it disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, still chasing the spots that the light had placed in my vision. My eyes weren't able to move fast enough to keep up with them.

"There's no time for questions. Let's move." With that, Riku began running down the road, and Sora followed not too long after.

"Dammit! Why don't they ever answer my questions?" I raced after them, catching up rather quickly.

-

We ran for quite some time along that road. Having passed through it, we were now stepping on rock, rushing through what seemed to be some sort of inset in a bluff. I still didn't know how running like this would help us reach Sin before it moved again. They had also never explained to me what that whole lightshow was about. What I did notice, though, is that for the amount of ground we'd covered, I wasn't nearly as tired as I should be.

As if to answer my questions, Sora slowed down, waiting for me to catch up before picking up speed to keep an even pace with me. He pointed out toward the water than rested below the bluff we ran through. I was astonished. Sitting just above the water, was a flock of birds. They were completely motionless, sitting in the air as if they were part of a painting. That's when I understood. We were moving at an accelerated speed, due to some sort of magic. It only seemed that nothing had changed because we were all affected.

Suddenly, the rock stopped, and we were on a dirt road again. This time, though, there was a vast lake, cutting our path to an abrupt stop. I slowed down, hoping that there was some sort of bridge that we could cross on. As I examined the surrounding area, I heard the sound of splashing. Looking back toward the water, I noticed Sora and Riku running straight across the water, kicking up a few droplets as their feet hit the surface. As the droplets began falling away from the feet, they remain suspended in the air, creating a very surreal, anti-gravity sense. Sora was looking over his shoulder, waving me on. I ran after them, continuing our race from the land to what had been reduced to a mere puddle.

-

After clearing the water, there was one final stretch of dirt road that led to the mouth of a cave. We now rested inside that cave, as the spelled seemed to have worn off. The exhaustion was setting in now, as we leaned against the cavern walls. The walls themselves seemed to be laced with tree roots. All in all, it was a magnificent place. However, we weren't there for tourism. We were simply taking a break to catch our breath before passing through.

After we'd rested up, we walked down a steep incline, exiting the cave through a second mouth. Before us stretched a plain of grey rock, littered with strange towers. There was a heavy rain, and constant lightning to accompany it. Plains full of thunder, the Thunder Plains? It looked like we were in the right place. We continued walking, making our way up a hill in the center of the plain. Sure enough, as we came over the hill, we saw our prey. Sin was floating just above the ground, seemingly very placid. Riku gave the signal, and we all summoned our blades, rushing the giant Heartless.

A massive sword crashed into the ground at my feet, forcing me to halt my advance. Sora and Riku kept pressing forward, leaving me to wonder about this new obstruction. The handle was quite long, roughly a meter in its own. The blade was at least three times that long and about half a meter broad. Though, I wasn't quite sure it counted as a blade, as it was at least three centimeters thick on both edges. For the most part, it was rather rectangular. However, the part that was stuck in the ground seemed to form a circle, with a hole in the center.

"I'm so glad you came." A knight crashed to the ground next to the sword. Its armor was a light shade of violet, and seemed rather heavy. It didn't seem bulky, rather, like a slender figure resting inside metal that was as thick as a dictionary. I couldn't imagine that is was all that agile. The helm, seemingly just as thick, had a massive 'X' carved into the faceplate, and a crescent moon symbol, acting as a sort of horn. "I was beginning to think you'd insulted me and ran away."

"I came as fast as I could," I retorted, lowering myself into a fighting stance, "And just who have I insulted this time?" I glanced past him to see the others fighting off a multitude of Heartless that weren't there when we arrived.

He grabbed the handle of his sword, pulling it from the ground and resting it on his shoulder. "My name is Sailess, the Lunar Knight, and one of the highest ranking Heartless Knights. Those that you've already eliminated were my officers, and my friends. Well, as close to friends as a Heartless can have, anyway." He glanced over his shoulder, then back to me. "You needn't worry about them. Sin should have enough energy to summon forth his army for a few years."

"So, it's just between you and me then, is it?"

"So it would seem. It's a shame, actually, since you could have proved to be an exemplary addition to our army."

"Well, then," White spoke, beginning to take over again, "I'll make this quick. Unfortunately for you, it will be anything but painless." My body rushed forward, swinging my Keyblade at the knight. Sailess was able to act with surprising speed, blocking the strike with his massive sword, throwing me backward, and skidding along the ground. "It looks like you've got a few tricks, huh."

The knight came at me, swinging his blade at my chest. His speed was amazing, leaving me with only enough time to hold Gaia's Torment in its path. The impact still sent me through the air, and back toward one of the towers. I corrected myself, coiling up as I hit the vertical face of the lightning rod. Pushing off, I sent myself back at him, swinging at his head. He stepped to the side, letting me continue on my path. As I continued past him, I felt an armored hand wrap around my foot. He pulled me back the way I came, the violent change in direction ripping my weapon from my hand. I dismissed it, watching it disappear with a bright flash as my back slammed against the ground.

As I took a moment to let the pain sink in, his sword rose above his head before coming down on me at an alarming speed. I held my hands out, summoning my Keyblade again, now holding a bright flash perpendicular to his swing. The blades clashed, stopping his sword from crushing me, but sending me further into the ground. Sailess kept pushing, forcing me to push back with more strength that I had. My arms felt as if they were on the verge of cracking. I wouldn't last too much longer.

"Looks like we're in quite a bind, doesn't it?" White's voice rang through my head.

"Yeah," I responded, "At this rate, we won't last much longer."

"Do you trust me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Good point."

Letting White take complete control, I watched in concern as Gaia's Torment was dismissed. The massive sword slammed into my face, but it didn't hurt. In fact, I didn't feel the impact at all. As I watched it slowly rise away from me, I could see the Lunar Knight's posture change from proud to one of disbelief and rage. Though, something was different. It was almost as if I was looking through grey stained glass. I felt my body rise, somehow heavier. White must have caught on to my confusion and forced me to look at my own hand. It was covered in silver armor. He let me see the rest of my body. I was covered from head to toe in a silver suit of armor.

"Impossible," the violet suit of armor said, "You're only a legend, a myth."

White didn't answer him, summoning my Keyblade again, and rushing Sailess. In his bewildered state, his reaction time was slow, but he still managed to deflect the blow, countering with a quick slap of the broad of the blade. The impact sent my body through the air, but White quickly corrected us, skidding against the ground. I could feel him give me back some of the control, perhaps allowing me to test the new suit. Raising my blade, I lunged at the knight. A bolt of lightning struck the ground, directly in my path, throwing my aim far off target.

I felt Sailess grab my foot again, this time, throwing me into the sky. With a little help from White on the reflexes, I managed to right myself in time to see the violet knight rushing up to greet me, with his giant blade following behind him, ready for an upward slash. I threw Gaia's Torment higher into the air, concentrating on the incoming attack. As the Lunar Knight matched my altitude, and began swinging, I positioned my feet into the path of his swing, wrapping my armored hands around his helmet. As he swung, I flipped over him, using his head as a fulcrum. With my back against his and my hands over my head, still clutching his helm, I threw him over myself, sending him back to the ground head first.

I saw my Key coming back down from the clouds, time seeming to freeze as I reached out for it. White must have known the plan, because the silver armor disappeared. I grabbed hold of the cloth wrapped handle of my weapon just as a bolt of lightning struck it. Plummeting back toward the knight, I held an electrified blade in my hands. I came down on him with a massive amount of force, jamming the lightning laced Keyblade into his chest as my feet landed on either side of him.

All that metal must have made a good conductor, as I watched sparks dance around the suit of armor. Sailess seemed to suffer from some sort of seizure as I stepped over him, leaving my weapon in his chest. Soon enough, the armor emitted a putrid sort of smoke, which smelt of rotten meat being cooked. The Lunar Knight disappeared within that smoke, leaving a black heart to be drawn into Gaia's Torment. I pulled it out of the ground, hearing a thud behind me.

As I turned around, I saw Riku and Sora standing atop the giant Heartless that was once known as Sin. They jumped off and began walking toward me as a huge cloud of smoke smothered the air behind them. That was it, we'd beaten Sin. All that was left was the remaining Heartless army. The three of us began walking back toward the cave that we'd rested in before, in need of doing so again. Apparently, White had more explaining to do.


End file.
